Highway to Hell
by neenana7
Summary: Lisa was running for her life. Looking desperately for a place to live, where no one would find her, she decides to go to the small town of Forks. She thought she would finally be able to be normal, live her life in a vanilla small town, until she meets Bella Swan, and her ride straight to hell starts over with a new problem. His name was Jasper Hale. JasperxOC Vampire x wolf
1. Prologue

"Do not be afraid; our fate

Cannot be taken from us; it is a gift."

Dante Alighieri, Inferno.

* * *

Lisa stared at her image on the old, dirty mirror, seeing her eyes shining back to her, tears streaming down her face, creating two lines on each cheek. Her mind was swirling around every single moment of her life that has led her to the present, making more and more tears fall down.

A soft sob came out of her mouth.

 _That's it_ , she thought. _I'm free._

Behind the tears, a bright, big smile appeared.

* * *

 **A/N: Hello!**

 **Before you move any further, please read this note.**

 **This is story is a Jasper x OC story, and it will be slow burn. I wanted to develop my character and her relationship with the other characters, before moving on to romance. But it'll be a romantic story, with mates and all that! :D**

 **Another important detail: the OC is a wolf shifter, so this is a wolf x vampire romance, so yea, lots of drama expected, haha.**

 **Also, Alice and Jasper will be together as a couple, but it won't last long - Alice isn't Jasper mate, in the soul mate sense of the word.**

 **Well, i guess that's it. Hope you enjoy it!**

 **See you!**


	2. Chapter I

_Forks, Washington_

Moving out from one place to another was a pretty annoying thing. Bring all the furniture, having to drive for hours, sometimes not even feeling happy about it, and then the process of getting used to the new place, new people, and new habits. Usually, people don't feel very excited with the prospect of moving out, and all the hard work that comes with it. Lisa Thompson, though, was not one of those people.

Inside her car, she couldn't help but sigh in relief when, after so many hours and days on the road, she finally came across the "The City of Forks Welcome You" sign; she slowed down her car for a moment, eyeing the road ahead of her, the road to her new home. As expected, Forks was a pretty green place, with the woods embracing the town, and a foggy mountain in the back. The smell of wet earth, flowers, and trees was strong, and she took a deep breath to feel it more deeply. There was a cold wind blowing, but she didn't mind. Her body temperature helped her not to feel cold at all, and she actually liked the feeling of it on her hot skin.

After a couple of minutes thinking about all the good things that _hopefully_ were about to happen in her life, she decided to speed, suddenly feeling anxious to get to the center of the town. It didn't take long before she started seeing small buildings and people moving about. Forks wasn't a big city, reason number one for her to choose _there_ of all places on the map she had brought with her - one of the only things she had from her old life. The small, almost inexistent red dot that signalized the town called her attention right away, like she was a fly and Forks was her light.

She didn't know anything in the town, but she did receive the address for a small place that rented and sold houses. She had called two days prior to try and find a place, and the lady who had answered the phone told her that she would separate a couple of houses for her to see. Staring at the many signs on the streets, she finally saw the one she was looking for. Turning on the street, she had no difficulties on spotting the yellow house with a big "Houses for Sale" sign.

Parking her car, and taking a last, deep breath, she went in the direction of the house.

"Good morning! How can I help you?" a nice, old lady asked, smiling so brightly that her eyes squinted shut. Cleaning her throat, Lisa nodded.

"Yes. I called a couple of days ago, to ask about a house for rent?"

The old lady stared at her for a moment, like she had no idea of what she was talking about, until she nodded in acknowledgment.

"Oh, yes! I was the one to answer the phone." She got out from the spot she was behind a wooden table, and extended her hand to Lisa. "It's Lisa, right?"

"Exactly."

"Well, I'm Anabelle, Lisa! It's a pleasure!" they shook hands. "You are just moving to Forks, aren't you?"

"Yes."

"Is it your first time here?"

"Yes." Lisa gulped feeling overwhelmed by the many questions and the scrutinizing look the lady was giving her.

"What made you come here, Miss?"

"You can call me Lisa," she corrected, shifting on her feet. "I was looking for a small place… and Forks seemed perfect."

"Yes, it _is_ a small town, y'know? But we have everything you may need here. Where did you come from, if you don't mind asking?"

"Portland." She answered right away, having practiced that lie many times. The lady frowned for a single second, and she looked like she was going to ask another question, but Lisa changed the subject before she could. "So…about the house?"

"Right. Sorry, I almost never have costumers," The lady sighed, and Lisa almost felt bad. "Anyway, the house I'm renting is a small place, but it's very close to the school. I'm assuming you're still on high school?"

She nodded, trying to smile. "I'm a senior,"

"Of course," The lady took a file from inside a cabinet, opening it and taking some documents from there. "I have a grandson there, but he's a junior. Maybe you'll meet. His name is Stuart Petersen."

Lisa nodded, trying her best to be polite. Anabelle finally handed the documents to Lisa, who took them and started to go through.

"The house is in perfect conditions!" Anabelle continued talking, showing a picture of the place to Lisa. "It belonged to old Mrs. Steinberg, but she passed away last spring, god bless her soul," she made a cross sign on her chest, but Lisa was too concentrated on the picture to realize.

She liked the little house; it was made of dark wood, one story only, a bedroom, a bathroom, a living room / dining room, and a kitchen. What really made Lisa like it so much, though, was the back porch that led to the woods surrounding the house. She could already imagine a swing, maybe even a picnic table where she could relax and have breakfast on the days with a little sun.

"So, what do you think?" she turned her eyes from the pictures and smiled to the old lady.

"I guess it's perfect,"

Anabelle sent her a big smile, making the wrinkles around her eyes become more prominent.

"Great! I'll get the contract then. Just a sec," she went behind the table again, and opened the cabinet where the documentation was, probably.

While she was searching amongst a bunch of files, Lisa kept her eyes glued to the pictures of her new home; she couldn't help but feel her heart beating faster with the prospect of finally living peacefully, just like she have always wanted.

Passing her fingers over the format of the house, she smiled to herself.

* * *

After signing all the necessary documents, Anabelle finally provided the key for the house to Lisa. The woman also offered to take her to the address, but Lisa politely declined, saying that she wanted to stop by a diner to eat, and Anabelle, though slightly dejected, smiled and said that if she needed anything, she just needed to call.

Lisa, then, left the small, yellow house, entered her old car and started her journey to her new place. Although she was starving – the last time she ate was the previous day when she stopped in a little road diner -, she was also very anxious to meet her new place. So, she decided she would order some pizza, maybe, after she got home.

While searching for the street where her house was, Lisa had the opportunity to see a part of the city, the one with restaurants, stores, and a market. It was good to know that her house wasn't that far from downtown, though it wasn't close either, which made it even more perfect for her. Before moving out, she had decided that she would keep to herself, and try not to get involved so much.

It took a couple of minutes for her to turn on the street that would led her to her place; she noticed, with a smile, that the street was very wooded, with tall trees on both sides, and it didn't have many houses. She could count only four, and they were all far away from the last one on the right. When she saw the small wooden house, her heart jumped with happiness.

Parking her car, she stopped for a moment to take everything in; the dark wood, the white framed windows, the porch with a single bench, and the green lawn. On the space in front of it, she imagined a beautiful garden, full of flowers and a little bird house. Her mind was already swirling with possibilities, and she felt herself planning all the details she would put there to make it _really_ her home.

When she finally entered the place, the first thing that hit her was the smell of dust and mold; the house probably had been shut for some time, but it was clean, with only a barely there layer of dust on some of the furniture. Another thing that made the deal for that place perfect was that she wouldn't need to buy a lot of new things. The house already had a small dark green couch, a TV rack made of wood, a bookshelf and a round dinner table with four chairs; on the kitchen, there was a stove, white cabinets and an old fridge that certainly had seen better days. She left her suitcases on the floor, while walking around to see the rest of the house.

On the bedroom, there was a big bed, with two nightstands on each side, a humongous wardrobe that would probably fit her if she wanted, and yellowish curtains – the only thing she didn't like so much. The walls were all white, and she could see some paintings decorating them. The other bedroom had only a single bed and a chest of drawers as for the bathroom, she was happy to see a bathtub, a mirror and a white, simple cabinet. Overall, everything was what she had expected, and she was very happy for it.

After the small tour, she decided to unpack some of her things and put in the wardrobe. Then, she would organize the house a little, sweep the floors, dust the furniture, and turn on the fridge and the stove.

With a big smile on her face, she started to make her home cozy.

And for the first time ever in her life, she felt something.

 _Hope._


	3. Chapter II

**Disclaimer: Twilight and its universe don't belong to me; all the original characters do, though.**

 _I'd like to thank everyone who reviewed and favorited the story! I felt very happy with the kind words i received ;D_

 _I hope y'all like this chapter!_

 _Author's note at the end._

* * *

One week had passed since Lisa had moved in to Forks, and so far her new life had started amazingly well. The day after she arrived she went downtown to buy some groceries and goods that she might need; she also went to a furniture store to buy a writing desk, a chair, a mirror, rugs for the rooms and sheets, towels, pillows, everything from bed and bath necessary for a living. At an electronic store, she ended up buying a TV set even if she didn't enjoy watching TV as the regular American would. It seemed _normal,_ though, to have a TV at home, therefore she thought it would be a good idea to buy one. After all this, the last place she stopped by was an antique store, and there she bought many decorations for her new house, varying from lamps, some paintings and an old gramophone that she absolutely fell in love with.

She headed home later and started to stuff all the food in the fridge, and organize some of the other things she bought; the furniture was brought by the store's truck later in the afternoon, so in that day she had almost all her house prepared. The next day, a Monday, she went to Forks High School to enroll as a new student, choosing to go at a time in which the classes were happening to avoid being seen by the students. Finally, on Tuesday she went to a local restaurant looking for a job, but they ended up saying that if there was an opening, they would call her. Obviously finding a job in a small town such as Forks would be hard, but she didn't give up. And after a whole day searching, she went back to the antique store, which had only the owner working. The guy from the store, an old man who probably worked there his whole life, took pity on her and gave her a try, saying that she could come on the weekends to help him run the store. It wasn't a full-time job, but at least she would get some extra money.

She wasn't worried about her financial situation, since she had plenty of money stored in a fake bank account; however, if she didn't work, and didn't have any family, people would start getting suspicious. So, from that moment on, she would work part-time with the gentle old man from the "Good old Store".

The rest of her week she spent organizing her life. She had to buy books for the classes, as well as school material; she also spent some time getting to know Forks, going almost everyday downtown.

Finally, the next weekend arrived and Lisa was already looking forward to going to school. It wasn't very common for teenagers – well, she wasn't one, after all – to like school, but Lisa had dropped out when she was sixteen, and never had the opportunity to finish it, something that she felt terribly ashamed of. Not that she was stupid, but at the time of her high school she was going through a lot of changes, and in her moment of rebellion, she just decided she didn't want to go anymore. Her parents didn't even care, literally shrugging when she told them, so she remained without going back to school. Replacing it was her job as a mechanic on her father's machine shop, a job she actually liked, besides the fact that she had to put up with her father and his ridiculous employees all day long. Now that she was older, she decided that she would give it a try and finish school.

Monday arrived with a heavy rain and a cold wind; Lisa woke up early, made her gigantic breakfast with eggs, bacon, bread, and pancakes, took a nice, warm shower, and got ready for her first day. It was still early when she pulled on the school's parking lot.

Forks High School wasn't big, and by what Lisa had researched, there were only 300 something students enrolled there. For her, that piece of information was gold. She preferred a school with few people - the fewer the better. From inside her '70 dodge, she ran her eyes around the few students that were pulling out of their cars or just hanging outside the school. Feeling suddenly nervous, she took a cigarette from her green jacket, lightning it and sighing with pleasure. It was an old, bad habit, one that she didn't mind having. It wasn't like she would have cancer, anyway.

In the middle of her second puff from the venomous smoke, she watched as a huge, noisy red Chevy truck pulled over right beside her car, and from it a girl got out. She was thin, not very tall, and pale as a ghost; her hair was dark and wavy, flowing freely down her back, and her eyes – which stared _hard_ at her through her car window -, were brown. She was pretty, Lisa decided, though she didn't look very healthy with heavy bags under her dark eyes and a paleness that made them stand out even more. She stared at her for some time, seeming to be in a faraway place, before frowning and turning around without saying a word.

It was a weird reaction, but Lisa imagined it was because she was new at the school, thus the girl's curiosity. Shrugging, and finishing her cigarette, she took her book bag and left her car. She had taken two steps forward before her ears perked with whispers talking about her; she tried not flinching with some of them, having expected the curiosity and stares since she was the new girl in town, and in a place as small as Forks, everything new was a chance of gossiping around.

 _"Is she the new girl?"_ a girl asked one of her friends, and a boy answered.

 _"Girl? She looks like a woman!"_

 _"I heard she moved in to old Steinberg's house. Creepy!"_ another boy said, staring with wide eyes in her direction.

 _"She has weird hair."_

She sighed, subconsciously passing her hand through her pale blonde hair; as usual, the locks were all messy since it was winding, but she didn't mind. Some students from Forks High school did, though, because the amount of whispers concerning her looks was huge. The first place she decided to go was at the office to get her schedule and hopefully a map of the school grounds. She didn't want to be the odd one out, besides already being, so it would be good to have something to guide her through the place. The same woman that had helped her the first time she had gone there, a large, red-headed woman named Mrs. Cope, as she had introduced herself, looked up from a pile of papers she was stapling, smiling brightly at her.

"Oh, Miss Thompson! How are you today?" she asked, putting the papers away and giving Lisa her full attention.

The girl felt slightly awkward with the brown eyes staring at her, but she smiled to be polite, anyway.

"I'm fine, thanks. I came here to take my schedule,"

"Right," the woman nodded, turning around and going to a file cabinet. "Here it is. Your schedule and a map of the school."

Lisa smiled gratefully, eyeing the map with relief.

"Thank you!"

"It's okay, honey. Here, let me show you your classes,"

The first class she had was Spanish with Mrs. Goff, followed by Government with Mr. Jefferson, Biology with Mr. Banner, English with Mr. Berty, Gym (which was one of her favorites) with Coach Clapp, and, lastly Trigonometry with Mr. Varner. After showing her the schedule, Mrs. Cope handed her a slip of paper that all the teachers should sign, which she had to bring back at the end of the day. She also showed how she could get to her first class, and soon Lisa was heading to the building 7 where the Spanish class was going to take place.

While walking towards the building, she felt all eyes on her figure on the hallways. The students of Forks, she realized, weren't shy and stared without caring if she was seeing or not. Once again, she could hear the whispers, but she decided to ignore them all. With her head held high, she went through the corridor full of teenagers gossiping unceremoniously about her.

"Hey!" she turned around when a boy started walking beside her. He was short, shorter than her at least, and had dark eyes and hair. "Welcome to Forks High School. I'm Eric!"

He offered her his hand, which she took without thinking too much.

"Lisa. Nice to meet you." She answered, shaking his hand and giving him a small smile, which he returned with a big one.

"Nice to meet you, too, Lisa. So, are you looking for you classroom?" he asked, but didn't give her time to answer. "I can help you find it if you want. What class are you having?"

"Spanish."

He smiled so much that she though his face would rip apart. "Nice! Follow me, _m'lady_."

With no other option, she did. Soon she regretted, because Eric had a loose tongue and couldn't stop talking.

"Soo…where do you come from?"

"Portland."

"Really? Your accent is kinda different!" Lisa's eyes widened for a moment, but thank god the boy didn't seem to see that little difference in accents. "Well, Portland isn't a lot different from here, right? It rains a lot there, too, doesn't it?

"Sorta." She didn't know what else to say, so she shrugged sheepishly.

One thing that Lisa wasn't good at doing was small talk; usually she was too serious, or too intense – people told her that -, and eventually nobody would want to talk to her. However, if one gave her a chance and went through the first "scary dark eyes" phase, they would find that she was actually a pretty chill person, easy to be around.

"You're not the only one new here, you know? Last year, Bella joined in the middle of the semester." He mentioned, turning to look at her with his eyes sparkling. "Hey, maybe I can introduce you two!"

"Er, that's okay, Eric." She shook her head, praying to any existing entity for her classroom to appear. "I don't wanna bother."

"It's no biggie." He shrugged. "Here's your class. Maybe at lunch you could come sit with me and my friends."

Even though she felt nice that he was asking her that, she decided that it would be better not to. She wasn't very comfortable in the middle of a lot of people – especially if they talked as much as this guy Eric did.

The overly excited teenager left right after she entered the classroom; she swept her eyes briefly around the room, seeing that it wasn't big, nor full. A couple of students were talking while the teacher organized her things. Walking straight in her direction, she called the woman's attention.

"Excuse me. I'm Lisa Thompson." The teacher smiled, taking the slip of paper Lisa was handing her.

"Welcome, Lisa. Please sit beside Miss Swan." She pointed to a the same girl who had stared at her in the parking lot; the girl was reading a book, a very old copy of _Romeo and Juliet_ , it seemed, and she didn't turn her head when the teacher said her name.

Lisa walked slowly towards the desk, and when she was close enough, she felt a _strange_ smell coming from the girl's clothes. She resisted the urge to scrunch her nose, since it would be very impolite, but the sickly sweet smell made her want to throw up. After putting her material over the desk, she sat down next to the silent girl, who didn't even acknowledge her presence, and stared at the front of the class; again, she could hear whispers about her person floating around the classroom, but decided to shut them out. Thanks to heavens the class didn't take long to start, and soon everyone was quietly paying attention to the Spanish teacher.

* * *

The first period of classes passed by smoothly, and Lisa was feeling pretty good about herself; the notion that she was learning something, and doing something useful with her life, made her want to know more, go home and do a bunch of homework. She knew her excitement laid on the fact that it was her first day only. She would enjoy it, though.

With a small, almost nonexistent, smile on her face, she moved through the halls in the cafeteria's direction. As expected, it was full of people roaming around with trays full of food, and the different smells made her stomach instantly growl. One fact about Lisa was that she ate _a lot_ ; her body burned calories faster than a normal body would, all because of her genetics. Therefore, she usually was starving, even after eating a huge breakfast or having a snack.

She noticed from the corner of her eye the boy Eric pointing in her direction, and decided to ignore it, going straight to the lunch line, which thankfully wasn't full. Once again, the whispers talking about her reached her enhanced hearing, and she ground her teeth with annoyance. She wished she didn't have to listen to what people who didn't even bother knowing her had to say about her. Her weird hair, the fact that she was _too_ tall, the paleness of her skin, her lack of clothes – she decided to wear shorts with black tights since she didn't get cold and if she wore a lot of clothes, she would actually feel hot. People scrutinized her like she was an animal being dissected, and that bothered her, even if she didn't admit it.

When her time on line finally arrived, she sighed in relief, putting all the food she felt like eating on her tray. By the time she was finished, the tray was heavy. Then, the time she was dreading most came: where would she sit? The tables were mostly full, and even if Eric was waving his hand in her direction, she glanced at his table and saw that there were at least six people there, and they all had curious looks on her face. So instead of going there, she sent the boy a smile but turned, eyeing a single table on the whole cafeteria that was almost empty.

"Excuse me, can I sit here? The other tables are all full," she stared at the girl, Miss Swan, if she was not mistaken, trying a tentative smile to soften things a little.

Said girl stopped staring at the window in her catatonic state and looked at her. She had sad eyes, Lisa noticed.

"Sure," She finally answered, shifting her stare back to the window. Lisa frowned but didn't say anything else. She sat on the table and started munching on her food, sighing with pleasure with the first bite on the tuna sandwich.

She and the girl didn't talk at all. Instead, Lisa ate her lunch glancing from time to time to the sad girl, wondering what had happened to her, what was the reason behind all the sadness and despair. While analyzing her, she could see the way she sighed from time to time, blowing air from between her pale lips, like she was tired. Sometimes her eyebrows would frown, and her mouth would turn downward. She never once shifted from her position, looking like a statue. She also didn't care about Lisa's eventual stares, or at least she didn't seem to care.

Lisa eyed her tray still full of food, and couldn't bear the fact that all that food would go to waste. So, clearing her throat, she decided to talk to the girl.

"Hey, hm… are you going to throw the food away?" the brown eyes shot to her, and she frowned.

"What?"

Lisa pointed her head in the direction of the food, feeling slightly embarrassed but not wanting that perfectly good chicken salad sandwich to go to the garbage untouched.

"Are you eating the food?"

It took some time to the girl understand; when she did, she simply shook her head. Lisa bit her lip, unsure if she should ask the food or not; it was weird, she knew, especially since she didn't know who the girl was.

"Do you want it?" she was surprised when the girl quietly offered her tray to her. Smiling, she took the sandwich and devoured it in a second.

"Thanks,"

The girl didn't answer back, going back to her state of staring at nothing.

"I'm Lisa." After finishing the sandwich, she decided she would at least offer her a name. She was also curious about what the girl's name was, since she only knew her surname.

Her brown eyes glanced briefly at her, before she sighed and answered.

"I'm Bella."

Lisa smiled, happy that that girl at least gave her a name. Then, it dawned on her what Eric had said earlier.

 _"Last year, Bella joined in the middle of the semester."_

Was it the same Bella, she wondered, though she never got the chance to ask, since the bell rang and soon all students were leaving the cafeteria for the second period of the day.

* * *

A/N: Here is the second chapter. There's the first interaction between Lisa and Bella. I don't remember mentioning before, but this story will follow through New Moon - which means that it'll take a moment before the Cullens appear -, and then it will continue through the other books.

Again, thanks to those who reviewed.

See you around!

Bye


	4. Chapter III

**Disclaimer: Twilight and its characters don't belong to me. The original characters and some of the plot, though, do.**

 _Hello!_

 _Here's one more chapter. I hope you like it!_

* * *

Lisa's first week at Forks High School had been… _vanilla_. After the first impressions, people stopped talking about her, not finding her that interesting to be the topic of discussion anymore. To say she was relieved was an understatement. It felt like she was just another regular student, and that sense of normality was all she could've asked for. She was doing well on her classes, liking the majority of the teachers, hating Trig like any normal student would, and trying her hardest to study and be a good student.

Another thing that had changed was the fact that she always sat at lunch with Bella, as well as in Spanish, English and Gym, the classes that they had together. They didn't talk, though. Lisa simply asked one day if she could walk with Bella to the cafeteria, and the brunette nodded; after that, they always went to classes together, in a silent companionship that both parts enjoyed.

Bella Swan was a _different_ girl, to say the least. She wasn't like the other teenagers on that school, always talking, gossiping or fooling around. She usually kept to herself, sat alone at lunch – now with the illustrious company of Lisa -, and rarely said anything other than "Hi" or "See you" when they met. However, Lisa found that she liked the sad girl, even if she didn't say anything and kept sulking around. She felt a weird connection with her, as if they _should_ become friends, or that at least she should be around the girl. Also, there were some things on her that she was curious about.

Starting with her smell; Bella had a particular scent, like any regular human had. She usually smelt of floral deodorant and an earthy smell that reminded her of the woods. There was another smell, though, that Lisa couldn't quite pinpoint. It was sweet, the sweetest smell she had ever felt, and it bothered her senses a little. It changed, though, depending on the clothes she was wearing. She didn't know whose smell that was, but she figured out it wasn't Bella's.

Besides the smell, she knew something bad had happened to Bella. She had a couple of scars on some parts of her body – one slightly curious with a bite's format, which Bella usually tried to hide -, and another one on her upper arm. The girl was very clumsy, as she could see on the Gym class, and maybe she had only fallen down a couple of times, resulting on her scars. Lisa's instincts, though, told her that something was off with the girl.

What exactly that was she couldn't really tell.

Overall, Bella was a nice girl. And Lisa could tell that she liked her, too, in her own, quiet way. Therefore, she was surprised when Bella asked to go out with her later that night to "watch a movie or something".

The blonde girl quirked an eyebrow, staring at the brunette silently. Bella was nervous, fidgety almost, which spoke volumes on why she was desperate to go out somewhere. She had a pleading look on her face, biting on her lip nervously, something that she used to do with frequency.

"Ok, I guess. What movie?"

The brunette sighed with relief, her shoulders hunching like a ton of weight had been lifted from her.

"There's one with a female president that everyone is talking about. I'm not sure about the name…"

"Sounds good," Lisa offered, giving the girl a small smile, which was returned.

"At seven?" Bella asked and Lisa nodded. "Can you pick me up at my place?"

"Sure,"

They stayed silent for a couple of minutes, with Lisa swallowing a bite of pepperoni pizza, while Bella stared.

"I live on Fern Hill, do you know how to get there?" she asked, her voice so low that if Lisa didn't have enhanced hearing, she doubted she would be able to hear.

"Yes, I'm good with directions," _and smells_ , she added mentally. "Besides, it's not like it's possible to get lost in Forks."

Bella smiled, nodding. "By the way, I know I never asked, but I heard you come from Portland, right?"

"Yep," the blonde answered, cleaning her hands on the napkin after her fourth slice of pizza. She stared at Bella, noticing the spark of curiosity in her brown eyes, something that she had never seen in the girl before. It matched her, though. "Where did you come from?"

"Phoenix,"

Lisa was surprised; she wouldn't imagine that _pale-as-a-goddamn-vampire_ Bella would have come from sunny Phoenix. The place literally had sun almost the entire year. "Wow, long way."

Bella made a sound of confirmation, sighing right after while she supported her head on her hand, looking outside the window, as usual. "Mhm… my mom got remarried and I didn't want to intrude."

"I see,"

The brown eyes once again shifted towards her, curiosity glimmering dangerously.

"What about you? Why did you move?"

Lisa shrugged, trying to act nonchalant. "My parents travel a lot; they're living in New York at the moment. I don't like big cities, and since I'm almost eighteen, I asked them to emancipate me."

Bella made an understanding sound, but she wasn't satisfied yet. "Why didn't you continue living in Portland, though? Wouldn't it be easier?"

"Yes, well," she started, thinking herself pretty stupid for not realizing the loophole in her own lie. She racked her brain looking for a new excuse, and gave the first one that appeared. "I wanted to live in a small town, and I like the rain, so…"

 _Pretty lame_ , she thought, shaking her head mentally. Bella thought so too, but decided not to pry; if there was something that she understood was when someone wanted to keep a secret, so she just nodded.

"Do you like living here?" Lisa decided to shift the topic, and the brunette accepted the change.

"I do," suddenly, her eyes got the saddest look Lisa had ever seen. It looked like her soul was broken in a thousand pieces, and all she could do was wonder what had happened to her once again to cause her such pain. "I didn't use to, though. I hated it here; the weather, the cold, the lack of Sun… the fact that you have to drive all the way to another city only to buy some decent books."

Lisa quirked her eyebrow, leaning on the table a little, interested in the story. "What made you change your mind, then?"

Bella sent her a quick look, and it looked like she was pondering if she should tell her the truth or not; it took a couple of minutes before she could decide, and when she opened her mouth to talk, the bell rang, signalizing the end of their lunch break. Lisa almost cried, curiosity sharped by the tale the girl was about to tell. Bella, though, looked relieved; whatever it was that she was about to say, Lisa was sure that she wasn't one hundred percent confident it was a good idea to tell.

The brunette was the first to stand up, taking her empty tray – thanks to Lisa's huge appetite -, and looking at the blonde.

"You coming?"

"Yes,"

The pair took their trays to the garbage disposal, going to their class right after. Neither Lisa nor Bella mentioned anything about the previous subject, but they did continue talking about the short-story Mr. Berty had asked them to read for that class, _The Yellow Wallpaper_ , which both of them loved.

* * *

After school was over, Bella and Lisa parted ways, confirming once more the time Lisa would come to take Bella, and changing cellphones numbers in case she got lost – it was a good excuse for both girls to have each other numbers after one week of silent companionship. While driving back home, listening to one of her favorite bands and with a cigarette on her fingers over the steering wheel, Lisa couldn't help feeling excited by the prospect of having a friend.

When she decided to move, and that she would enroll once again in high school, she didn't think she would make friends and honestly it wasn't her biggest concern regarding school. She was used with loneliness - it was an old friend of hers. She didn't have friends when she went to high school before, people always thought she was way too intense, whatever that meant, and even a little scary with her 5'10'', dark eyes, the weird hair color, and the way she always walked around all serious, even if internally she was wondering how people found out that frying potatoes would make them delicious. Lisa never quite understood the way people saw her, but after years she figured they felt she was dangerous, their natural instincts telling them to back the hell off because she was bad news.

Now, she found herself wanting more than anything for her and Bella to become good friends; the brunette, opposite to everyone at the school – even the boy Eric, who stopped trying talking to her after she just smiled and waved when he called her -, Bella didn't seem to mind the slightest about all the characteristics that made Lisa stand out in a crowd and made people cower instantly under her gaze. It was like she was _used_ to it, to weirdness. Maybe it was because she was a little weird, too, Lisa thought.

Anyway, Lisa didn't mind Bella weirdness, or the fact that she always seemed to be in another universe. She genuinely liked the girl, and that was it.

By the time she arrived home, she decided she would take the opportunity of going to Port Angeles to shop for some extra things she wanted in her place. But first, she would make some dinner because she was starving.

Around 6:30, Bella sent her a message telling her that she was ready; Lisa smiled at the girl's punctuality. She took one last look at her appearance on the mirror, fixing her black beanie and grabbing her green jacket, she finally left. As always, she put some music to play in her car, feeling the sound instantly relax her. She was feeling slightly nervous, thinking that was the perfect opportunity to bond with Bella, and that she didn't want to screw it up.

"You're so lame," she muttered to herself, shaking her head. It was like she was going on a date, feeling all anxious and excited at the same time.

It took her ten minutes to arrive at Bella's house – Forks was a really small town -, and the moment she parked in front of the white house, Bella opened the door. Lisa analyzed briefly the Swan's home; it was a normal, two-story house, suburban, with nothing special. From her car, she could smell Bella and another person, but what caught her attention was once again that annoying sweet smell that came from the brunette's clothes and made her want to scrunch her nose in disgust. It was stronger in the house, she realized, and it would be much more if she actually entered the household.

Shaking her thoughts, she returned her attention to Bella, who was now talking to a man that had the same hair and eye color that Bella had - it was her father. He was looking at her with a frown, and she could hear him talking to Bella in hushed whispers.

 _"Why can't you introduce her to me? I was looking for a chance to talk to this girl…"_ he said, looking back at a nervous Bella.

 _"Dad, you're going to embarrass me."_ Lisa had to bit her lip to not laugh at Bella's typical teenager speech. _"She is normal..."_

 _"Well, I wasn't expecting her to be the big foot or anything."_ Bella rolled her eyes and was about to retort when Lisa decided she would come to her rescue.

She got out from the car, walking towards the pair, noticing the same dark, intense eyes looking at her. Charlie's eyebrow quirked slightly while he gave her an _almost_ imperceptible once over. When she stood in front of him, she realized that they were about the same height, and could look straight at each other's eyes.

"Hello, Mr. Swan," she extended her hand to him, which he immediately shook with a strong handshake. "I'm Lisa Thompson, the new girl in town."

He nodded with a look of curiosity in his eyes. "Are you a basketball player or something?" he blurted out, and Lisa couldn't resist the chuckle that came out of her. Bella, though, wasn't amused.

"Dad!" she stared daggers at him, but he just shrugged her off.

"No, I'm just tall. Family genetics and all."

"Well, I'm the chief of the police from Forks, so it's my duty to welcome you in our community," he gave her a small smile. "I heard you were emancipated, is that right?"

"Yes, my parents travel a lot, so they emancipated me since I'm almost eighteen."

He made a sound of understanding. "I see. Maybe someday we can talk a little more. You'd better go before Bella turn me to ashes with her laser vision eyes."

This time, Lisa laughed, instantly liking the Swan patriarch. Bella pinched her father on his arm before taking Lisa's arm and dragging her to the car.

"You girls be safe! And have some fun for once, Bella."

Lisa waved to Bella's father before entering her car. Bella sat down with a pout, which made the blond smile.

"I hate it when he does that." She said through her clenched teeth, looking like a little girl who had been denied a new toy.

"No worries, Bella." Lisa offered her a smile, turning on her car. "He's cool."

Bella only huffed, not agreeing in the slightest with Lisa. "By the way, you have a nice car."

"Yea, I love my baby." Lisa said, pulling off the Swan's sidewalk, and smiling. "I saved this sweet lady from an auction, it had been in an accident and I had to basically rebuilt her. From junk to funk, as they say,"

This time, Bella did something that up to this moment, Lisa had never heard her doing - she laughed.

"You did a good job," she appraised, winning ten points for complimenting Lisa's most precious possession. "You're a mechanic?"

"Kinda," Lisa answered after thinking about the right answer for that question. She was, indeed, a mechanic, but because of her father's business, and so far she had told everyone, including Bella, that her parents travelled because of work, thus she couldn't say they were mechanics. There was no such a thing as itinerary mechanics, at least she had never heard of.

"What do you mean?" And of course Bella wouldn't let that go; again, when Lisa glanced briefly at her friend, she saw that spark of curiosity in her chocolate brown eyes.

"I know how to fix cars and all, but I'm not formally a mechanic. I learned by myself," that wasn't completely a lie, since her father never cared to teach her, so she had to watch and learn. "I really love it, though. If I ever go to college, maybe I'll do something related to it,"

"Ugh, don't talk about college," Bella shook her head, sighing.

"You don't wanna go?" Lisa asked curiously.

"Not really," then the brunette sighed again. "Well, I don't know now. I had other plans until last year, but they're not happening apparently."

Through the corner of her eye, she saw Bella's head hang while the girl stared at her hands; again there was that sad, desperate look in her eyes, and she seemed lost in thoughts. _Memories_ , Lisa understood.

"Do you mind if I ask you something?" she wondered, looking straight ahead to the dark road, though her attention was all turned to Bella. She nodded, and Lisa continued. "What happened to you?"

She tried her best not to scare Bella off, and the tone of her voice was gentle, calm, almost soothing. It seemed to work on the girl, since she sighed once again before talking.

"Someone broke my heart,"

The answer was surprising to Lisa, since she didn't picture Bella with anyone, especially a lover. It wasn't that the girl wasn't pretty or anything, but she just didn't really care about anything it seemed. The girls were silent for some time, Bella staring quietly at her hands and Lisa thinking about what would be the right thing to say.

She decided to continue with the questions. "Who?"

Bella didn't hesitate this time. "My boyfriend,"

"Can I ask what happened?" Lisa offered, glancing at the girl with a comforting smile on her face, which she hoped would help Bella open up.

It took Bella a moment to answer, and when she did her voice was so quiet that if Lisa didn't have good hearing, she wouldn't have understood.

"He left."

At this time, the sadness coming off from Bella was almost palpable, and it made Lisa flinch. She wasn't good at comforting people, especially over something that she didn't quite understand, since she had never had her heart broken, but she tried, anyway. She liked Bella, and was beginning to consider her a friend, so she would do anything to help her. That's why she extended her hand, without taking her eyes off the road, to hold Bella's. She felt happy when Bella squeezed her hand back, sniffing slightly.

They didn't talk after that, but that was ok. Both girls found that it wasn't necessary; at that moment, Lisa Thompson and Bella Swan's friendship was sealed forever.

* * *

By the time Bella and Lisa arrived at the movies, the section of the movie they wanted to watch had already started, so they had to choose another. They opted for the zombie one that was showing called _Dead End_ , which was a really trashy movie that made the girls actually laugh instead of being afraid. That shifted the heavy atmosphere that had settled between them after Bella's confession of a heart broken. When the movie finally ended, they left the cinema joking about the terrible action scenes and obvious fake blood that looked like ketchup.

"That was something," Lisa mentioned, munching over a chocolate bar she had bought previously.

"Yea, never thought I'd actually laugh at someone's brain being eaten."

"Hey, not judging you," she nudged her shoulder. "So, let's grab something to eat? I'm kinda starving."

Bella's eyebrows shot to her hairline. "Didn't you eat, like, three boxes of popcorn? And you're eating chocolate right now." She pointed out the almost finished chocolate bar.

Lisa just shrugged, kicking herself inside for not realizing that eating _that_ much was not normal for the average teenager.

"You always eat a lot. Do you have a black hole inside your stomach?" Bella joked while they started walking forward, to where Lisa had no idea.

"I just enjoy eating, is all,"

"Hey, not judging you," Bella smirked, which made Lisa laugh.

"Thanks, you're really sweet." she retorted sarcastically.

The girls laughed together like two completely normal teens would do; that made both Bella and Lisa feel good. They walked for a couple of minutes, talking and joking a little about nothing in special, until they reached a short unlit sidewalk where all the stores had been closed due to the late hour. Ahead, though, there was a portion of the street that was illuminated again and they could see the large and bright McDonalds' symbol shining like the Sun. Lisa's stomach growled at the sight and Bella quirked an eyebrow in her direction.

Across the street from them there was only one open business. It was obviously a bar, since Lisa could hear the loud music and different smells of sweat, alcohol and smoke. It was named "One-Eyed Pete's", a ridiculous name in her opinion. She didn't really care about the bar, her eyes glued on the place that would satiate her hunger, which made her miss the way Bella's attention shifted there. There were four men outside the establishment, talking and minding their own business, not really caring about the two teenage girls crossing the street.

Suddenly, Lisa realized that Bella had stopped, and she turned back to see her friend staring at the group of men. She looked frozen, and her eyes were intense, her posture stiff. The blonde turned to stare at the men too, trying to understand Bella's shift of demeanor. There was one guy staring back at her, and the look he was giving Bella was known by Lisa. Instantly she was by her friend's side, stopping in front of her and shaking her.

"Bella? Are you ok?" she asked, attracting Bella's attention by standing on her line of vision.

"I think I know them…" she muttered, eyes glancing over to where the men were one more time. Again she had that faraway look, like she was relieving some memories; and just like she was being controlled by a stronger force, Bella stepped away from Lisa, going in the men's direction.

She walked slowly, reluctantly; that odd behavior confused Lisa, making her stare back at her friend's retreating form, until she woke up and gave three long steps to catch up to Bella.

She took her bony arm, turning her around. "Hey, what're you doing?"

"I want to see something…" she said absently, not even looking at her.

Lisa frowned, glancing back to the men and seeing that they all had eyes on them now. She scrutinized each of them, seeing that they were about mid-thirties, with round bellies and not very tall; they were sitting on their bikes, typical _badass_ style, looking smug. They were soft, she could tell. Easy to beat up if it came to that. Sighing, she looked back at Bella.

"It's dangerous," she whispered warningly. Brown eyes stared back at her.

"I'm not afraid…"

Then, Bella started walking again, this time with Lisa beside her. The girl was obviously being reckless, but she wouldn't listen to her. So, she'd just stick around and interfere _if_ it was necessary. She watched as Bella stopped a couple of steps before the guys, as if she was having an internal discussion; she shook her head, before taking another step. It seemed like she was testing something, and when she sighed loudly, one of the men decided to speak to the weird girl going in their direction.

"Hi," he looked smug, his voice carried with confidence and sarcasm. Lisa noted he had a nice face, with his light blonde hair and green eyes, but the way he stared at Bella like she was a piece of meat made her skin crawl with anger. She _hated_ man like that, who thought women existed to serve as their object of pleasure.

Bella, though, smiled with that distant look that Lisa had yet to understand. The guy was encouraged by the smile and grinned, his voice sounding once again.

"Can I help you with something? You look lost."

In turn, as if she was enchanted, Bella stepped closer, leaving a nervous Lisa behind her.

"No. I'm not lost."

"Can I buy you a drink?" he tried again, his confidence slightly shook.

"I'm too young," she answered, shaking her head. "From across the street, you looked like someone I knew. Sorry, my mistake."

The guy seemed disappointed for a moment, and Lisa sighed with relief when she saw Bella start to turn around; everything would've been over right at that moment, and they would go eat something and forget the creepy little moment Bella had had. It would have been fine, if it wasn't for the guy's hand closing around Bella's wrist and pulling her towards him with no grace whatsoever.

After that, everything happened so fast that Bella couldn't even understand. Lisa's closed fist had come flying from nowhere stopping flush in the guy's face, the sound of his nose breaking being heard through the noise coming from the bar. A collection of gasps made Bella snap out of her daze to look at her friend, who didn't even seem fazed by the punch she had given. Her hand was still closed and her posture was defensive, as if she was expecting the other guys to start a fight with her.

"Holy shit!" the guy with the broken nose yelled, both his hands over his already bloodied face. "What the hell? Are you crazy, bitch?"

Lisa rolled her eyes, staring at him _hard._ "Yes, I'm. A crazy bitch with a _hella_ hook. Do you want another?" she threatened coming over, but the guy cowered while his friends started laughing.

She took Bella's hand, thinking about leaving that place as soon as possible, before the other guys decided to do something to help their friend. Bella was so shocked that she was just carried away by a pissed off Lisa.

They started to walk in complete silence, Lisa too angry with herself for losing her temper, and Bella too lost in her own thoughts to say anything. It was only after they were right in front of McDonalds, and amongst lots of people roaming around that Lisa looked at Bella.

"Do you wanna tell me what the hell happened there?" she crossed her arms over her chest, staring so intently at Bella with all her 5'10'' that the girl cowered. That made Lisa sigh and shake her head. "That was dangerous."

"Sorry," was all that Bella was able to offer, looking down at her feet sheepishly. At that moment, she looked like the teenager she was, and Lisa softened her look.

"It's ok. Just don't…do it again." When Bella didn't look back at her, Lisa nudged her shoulder, offering her a comforting smile. Bella seemed visibly relieved that she was smiling, and breathed deeply.

"Thanks, I can be a little…weird, sometimes."

"Sometimes?" Lisa chuckled while Bella shrugged, smiling a little.

"Ok, let's go in so I can buy you an apology cheese burger."

"Now you're talking."

The rest of the evening passed by with nothing special happening; after eating, or almost making McDonalds break down with the amount of food Lisa ordered, the girls decided to call it a night. The ride back to Forks was a silent one, with Lisa singing softly to the 80's rock playing on her stereo and Bella lost in her own thoughts.

* * *

 **A/N: Any thoughts on the chapter? haha.**

 **So, as you may have noticed, i changed some things from both the movie and the books. Instead of Jessica going with Bella, and Bella riding with that guy as she did in the movies, i decided that Lisa would punch him and then they would go away. I'm planning to change some things i nthe story, so it doesn't look repetitive and boring, and so i can insert my character. Anyway, i hope you liked it!**

 **Thanks for the reviews and favorites! i'm really happy.**

 **See you!**


	5. Chapter IV

**Disclaimer: Twilight doesn't belong to me. The OC, though, do.**

 _One more chapter! I hope y'all like it. :)_

* * *

The next day, Lisa woke up early, as usual, but decided to remain on her bed for a while longer; it was raining heavily outside, and the fresh smell of wet earth and grass was so comforting to her that she almost dozed off. It was her second weekend living in Forks, and so far everything had been great. Her house was pretty much furnished with all the things she wanted, the school was also going smoothly, and she had even made a friend.

 _Bella_ , she thought, sighing.

The previous night had been really nice, well, except a small part of the evening when Bella had pulled a _Girl, Interrupted_ act on her. She wondered what would've happened if she hadn't been there or worse, if she wasn't who she was. She was not a fan of violence after living all her life in a violent environment; she preferred the peace and quiet, just like she was having at that moment.

She stared at her right hand, seeing it harmless, not even a scratch. The guy was really soft, like she had suspected. She just hoped she wouldn't have to punch more people because Bella was being reckless.

Her stomach loud roar pulled her out of her thoughts, and after stretching and yawning loudly, she got up. As always she prepared her big breakfast, and sat to eat when it was all done, turning on the TV just so the house wouldn't be so silent.

It was still nine a.m., and she had agreed with Steve, the old guy from the antique store, that she would arrive at ten to help him open the store and get everything ready. She was excited with the prospect of having a job, though working on an antique store wasn't exactly her dream job. Unfortunately, she couldn't find any mechanic shops around Forks that were hiring, so she had to stick with what she had.

Standing up from her table, she washed the dishes and started to get ready for her first day of work. Soon she was closing her home and going downtown Forks.

The day passed slowly, and for Lisa it had been pretty boring, if she was honest with herself. There wasn't much to do at the store, so all she could do was sweep the floor, clean the windows, and organize the objects. Steve was reading a book on his balance chair, not even minding her, so she decided to sit and watch the street. After the six hour shift was over, she had helped only one couple that had entered the store, and they didn't even buy anything.

As she was leaving the store, saying her goodbyes to Steve, she heard the distinct sound of an old truck, too familiar by now to be mistaken. Sure enough Bella's red truck pulled in front of the store, while the owner rolled down her window and grinned at her.

"Hey, Lisa! I have a surprise for you!" Lisa quirked one eyebrow, feeling suspicious already.

Bella got out of her truck, getting all wet because of the rain, and came to a stop in front of her new friend.

"So, to apologize _again_ for my weird behavior last night, I bought you something. Actually, I bought _us_ something."

"What is it?"

Bella smiled once more before going around her truck and pulling the heavy coverage from the trunk, showing two old, dusty bikes that had certainly seen better times.

"Oh, pieces of junk. Nice! Thanks, Bella!" Lisa said sarcastically, going closer to take a better look at the two bikes. One was black Harley Sprint and the other a red Honda XL25. They looked like they had seen better days, but they certainly picked Lisa's interest. It was her specialty to make old, broken things look better than they were when they were new.

"Well," Bella continued talking, her cheeks red. "I was passing over the Markses' house and I saw them for sale. I thought why Lisa is a mechanic, so she probably can fix those little babies and we can turn into badass bikers."

Lisa scoffed while shaking her head at her friend. "I'm already badass enough with my dodger, thank you very much."

"C'mon, Lis!" Bella pleaded, looking at her with puppy brown eyes that made it impossible to deny her anything. Lisa's own dark eyes rolled, before she nodded.

"Ok, but I don't have my tools with me nor do I have a garage."

Bella seemed to deflate for a moment, before she rose all bright and happy again.

"I know someone who has both."

And that was how they were on the way to the Quileute reservation, a place Lisa hadn't had the chance to visit yet. Both girls went with their own cars, and a couple of minutes later they had arrived at the place. Lisa didn't know who was the "someone" Bella had mentioned, since the girl didn't bother to say the name of this person. They pulled in front of a little red house, and just as they turned off the engines, a head full of black hair peered out of the window. Lisa could see it was a teenage boy as he came out of the house meeting them halfway the path. She gave him an once over seeing that he was really tall, with long, dark hair and red-colored skin; his body had a good amount of muscles too, though he still had a boyish face that made her want to squeeze his flushed cheeks.

"Bella!" he called with a bright grin on his handsome face, right before he hugged the brunette, taking her off the ground. "Where the hell have you been, loca?"

"Hey, Jacob!" Bella greeted with a smile of her own. She looked happy at seeing him, Lisa noticed. "So, sorry for stopping by without any notice."

"That's ok!" the boy answered happily, making Bella give him a warm look. Jacob shifted his eyes towards Lisa, his eyebrows rising slightly while he regarded her curiously. "Who's your friend?"

"Oh, yeah. This is Lisa. She goes to school with me _and_ she is also new in Forks."

After the small introduction, Lisa offered her hand to the boy, which he soon shook, smiling brightly again.

"Nice to meet you," she said.

"You too." Jacob answered. "

"So…" Bella quirked one eyebrow, looking him up and down. "You grew again!"

He laughed out loud, making his face lit even more. "Six five,"

"Is it ever going to stop?" Bella shook her head, probably feeling a little girl between Lisa and Jacob. "You're huge!"

"Yea, I'm on steroids." He joked, before a look of realization passed over his face. "Come inside! You're getting all wet."

Both Bella and Lisa agreed since they had been standing under the cold rain for some minutes. They followed him to the little red house and while walking, Lisa took a casual sniff, to memorize the smells embracing the space surrounding Jacob's house; between the obvious smell of rain and grass, she noticed one that she hadn't felt for quite some time. One that was very similar to her own smell. Her eyes went straight to the source of the smell, stopping at the edge of the woods surrounding the house. Her instincts flared, the need to know what was lurking amongst the trees, hiding and _watching_ her, almost making her run in that direction. She continued to stare, eyes glued and body tense.

"Lis?" she jumped when Bella's hand came over her shoulder, waking her from the daze. Her friend had a confused look, and her dark eyes shifted towards the woods, as if trying to see whatever had caught her attention.

"Sorry, I thought I had seen something," she lied, shaking her head and smiling to Bella. She realized Jacob was also staring at her with a strange look, something that made her feel slightly embarrassed.

"Oh, what was it?" Bella as usual was curious, but Lisa shook her off.

"Let's go inside, it's freezing out here." She said nudging her friend, and following Jacob once more.

Before they entered the house, though, Lisa couldn't help but look over her shoulder. There she saw a big, black wolf, his dark eyes staring intently at her.

* * *

After meeting Jacob's father, Billy, a man who looked just like an old version of his son, the trio – Bella, Jacob and Lisa – went to the Black's garage, right behind the house. Inside the house, Lisa realized that Bella hadn't been too comfortable in the presence of the older man, the reason was beyond Lisa's knowledge; maybe she could ask her later, to see if the brunette would tell her. Whilst there, Jacob had asked what they wanted to do, after all they had gone there for a reason. Bella, though, didn't tell _exactly_ why – the fact that Lisa wanted to use his garage to fix two broken, old bikes -, but asked Jacob what he had been doing.

He had said that he was working on his car, and Bella, overly excited, said that they wanted to see the car. Seconds later they were on the way to the back of the house, where the garage was.

Lisa looked around, founding all the tools she used to use like they were extended parts of her own body; the place was big, surrounded by trees and shrubbery, making it somewhat dark. There were pieces of car spread all over the floor, as well as other stuff that was probably old things that they deposited there. Her fingers itched to fix something, feeling suddenly nostalgic and remembering the times she would stay at her father's garage all day long, with no worries on her mind but where to put a certain part of the car. She spotted a red car with the hood open, and her first instinct was to check the engine, seeing that Jacob was probably working on it.

"1986 Rabbit, a real classic!" she commented excitedly, examining the work Jacob had done so far. "1.8 – liter Inline 4…90 hp?"

Her fingers passed through the cold engine, eyeing the wires connected to it, as well as the few changes Jacob had done to the original model of the car. She didn't turn to look at Jacob when she asked for information about the car, other way she would've been able to see his look of surprise. For Jacob Black, it wasn't very common to meet girls who were actually interested in cars, especially since he spent most of his time in the reservation and didn't meet many new girls.

He finally answered, cracking a grin. "Yeah, are you a mechanic?"

"Takes two to notice," she joked, taking her head out of the hood and smiling. "You did a good job."

Jacob's grin widened with pride. "Thanks. It wasn't that difficult, though. It's a nice car to play around."

"Sure. I like messing around with cars, too. Though I prefer _muscles_ , they're more fun."

The Quileute boy chuckled, nodding. "I could see by the 1970 Dodger, _really_ nice car."

That was Lisa's turn to grin with pride. "That's my baby. I pretty much fixed her from scratch." She sighed with a dreamy look on her face, "Aw…good memories."

"I bet," he said, "So, I guess you didn't come here _only_ to see my pretty face, right?"

This time, Bella, who had been quietly listening to the exchange between Jacob and Lisa, shook her head with an awkward smile on her face. "It's a little crazy, but I recently acquired two bikes, and they're not in the greatest conditions. Lisa here," she pointed towards the blonde, "is a mechanic. But she doesn't have the tools or the place to fix them,"

"So you're wondering if you can borrow mine?" he finished for her, quirking an eyebrow.

"Sorta. We could pay, you know. It's just that… I really want those bikes."

"Well, you can't pay me." He looked a little offended by the prospect, and before Bella could apologize, he interrupted. "But I'd like to help, if that's ok…"

Lisa and Bella eyed each other briefly before Lisa answered with a smile. "Absolutely. Two hands are better than one, right?"

"I believe the right saying is two _brains_ are better than one," Jacob mentioned chuckling.

"Already working, see?" she retorted, making both Bella and Jacob laugh.

After the friendly conversation, the trio went outside again to pick up the bikes from Bella's truck. Jacob, all buff and strong, took them both out with only his hands, not even sweating.

"What do they put in the water here?" Lisa wondered while watching the young boy lifting a bike that should have weighted at lot for him. Bella nodded, also flabbergasted by his strength.

Jacob put the bikes on the floor, analyzing them clinically.

"These aren't half bad," he praised, his black eyes shining like a little child's would at receiving a new toy. His dark eyes passed over the Harley Sprint, and Lisa could tell that he liked the black motorcycle the best. "This one can actually be worth something after we're finished – It's an old Harley Sprint."

"Well, if you want, you can keep her." Lisa offered, receiving looks from both Bella and Jacob. She shrugged. "I'm not a bike chick."

"That's settled, then." Bella agreed.

"Are you sure?"

"Absolutely." The brunette answered with a smile. Jacob grinned, his excitement almost palpable.

"Let's take them inside,"

Jacob got the Harley and started to push her towards the garage; Bella was going to try and do the same with the Honda, but the bike was too heavy.

"How did he take them?" she asked incredulously to Lisa, who laughed.

"They're not that heavy, Bells." The blond, to prove her point, started pushing the bikes just like Jacob had done. "You need to eat more carbs,"

Bella rolled her eyes, but deep inside she thought that maybe she should. The two girls entered the garage, seeing that Jacob was ready to go back. He quirked an eyebrow to Lisa, seeing that she had been able to carry the bike with no effort, but the girl just shrugged.

"So, these are going to take some cash," he said, frowning at the black bike. "We'll have to save up for parts first."

" _We_ nothing," Bella disagreed, shaking her head. "If you're doing this for free, I'll pay for the parts."

Jacob looked at Lisa briefly, before biting his lip. "I don't know…"

"Hey, that's ok. I'm the one that brought it up, anyway," the brunette reassured them. "Besides, I've got some money saved. College fund, you know."

"Are you sure? Isn't your dad going to be mad?" Lisa asked, then, eyeing her friend with confusion. She knew that Bella was still debating whether or not she would go to college, but spending the money would surely stop her from going.

Bella looked a little uncomfortable at the mention of her father, and stared at her feet. "Charlie actually doesn't know," she muttered, ashamed. "He doesn't approve of motorcycles, being a cop and all that. Honestly, he'd probably bust a vein in his forehead if he knew about this."

Lisa and Jacob exchanged a brief look. Now Lisa was beginning to understand Bella's motifs behind buying two bikes; she wanted to piss her father off, like a regular teenager would.

"By the way, Jacob, can you not tell Billy? He'd surely tell Charlie…"

Jacob shrugged, not really minding keeping the secret.

"Sure, sure. I understand."

"Lis? Are you ok with it?" Bella turned to her friend, who only smiled and nodded.

"Let's start, shall we?" Jacob asked with a huge smile on his face.

From that day on, going to La Push turned to be one of Lisa's favorite hobbies.

* * *

Well, what do you think?

I'd like to thank once again for all the feedback I've received. You're amazing!

See you

XX


	6. Chapter V

**Disclaimer: Twilight doesn't belong to me. T-T**

 _Hey! One more, hope you like it!_

 _Thanks for all the support! You're really amazing._

 _XX_

* * *

The next couple of weeks passed by fast, with Lisa getting completely comfortable in Forks and becoming even closer to Bella, and, by extension, Jacob Black. The girls would go to La Push every day after school, both of them excited with the progress Jacob and Lisa had been getting from the bikes after days working on them, taking all the pieces off, buying new ones and putting them together. Lisa had found that Jake had a natural talent for mechanics, and like herself he was self-taught, having learning the art of fixing cars by watching one of his friends' father work on his mechanic shop. Together with her they were working quickly, and it wouldn't take long for the bikes to be ready to go.

Besides the boy's talent, Lisa had also noticed something else on him – his obvious and _deep_ crush for Bella. While she was working on the bikes, she could see the way Jacob would look at the brunette; his dark eyes sometimes would follow her form around, when she was doing her homework or just wandering about the garage, analyzing the stuff storaged there. It was _obvious_ , and when she noticed, she couldn't help but smile to herself. Bella, though, seemed pretty oblivious about it, her thoughts always on the guy from her dreams, or nightmares, the one Lisa knew nothing about except that he had broken Bella's heart.

That was something that bothered her a little bit; her friendship with Bella was becoming stronger by each time they spent together – they had even slept at each other places when they stayed in La Push for too long-, but still Bella wouldn't say a word about her _ex_ -boyfriend. She only knew his name because on one of the nights Bella had slept at her place, she heard the teenager mutter it while sleeping.

 _Edward._

This boy was like a deep, dark secret of Bella's, one that she wanted to bury deep inside her mind. The necessity of forgetting, and the obvious way his absence affected her, made Lisa a little worried. She wondered what that boy had done to Bella to scar her so deeply. Whatever it was, though, she was certain of one thing – she _did not_ like the guy.

"That's all for today, guys" she sighed happily when the Trig teacher ended the class, and soon the bell was ringing, signalizing the end of the school day.

As usual Lisa put her things on her book bag and left the classroom, heading straight to her locker. She wasn't surprised when she saw Bella standing there with her earphones and again the copy from _Romeo and Juliet_ – she was obsessed with Shakespeare, as Lisa had noticed.

In the back of her mind, Lisa felt that it had to do with _the guy_. The tragedy of a couple being unable of being together, and their death because of each other, gave Lisa the chills. She hoped Bella wasn't thinking anything stupid. If anything happened to her friend, she would certainly _hunt_ down the guy herself and kick his ass.

Shaking her head, she offered Bella a smile when the brunette looked at her, closing her book and taking off her earphones.

"What's so special about that book?" she couldn't stop herself from asking while she took off her some books out of her locker and put them inside her book bag.

"Besides being a classic?" Bella retorted, and Lisa rolled her eyes.

"You know what I mean,"

Bella stayed quiet for some time as they walked down the hallway towards the exit. It took her so long to answer that Lisa thought she wouldn't. But she did.

"It reminds me of someone,"

It didn't take a second for Lisa to realize _who_ exactly Bella remembered.

"Is it the Edward guy?" Bella's brown eyes shot to Lisa, her eyebrows rising and her mouth slightly opened; Lisa chuckled at her expression before rolling her eyes.

"C'mon, Bells. Do you really think me _that_ stupid?" she asked, which made Bella shake her head.

"But I've never told you…"

"I know," Lisa sighed, looking straight at her friend. "And that's ok. But you talk when you sleep, y'know?" this time, Bella looked embarrassed and turned to look away.

"Sorry,"

"No need to apologize," Lisa nudged her shoulder, smiling. "I just happen to have a _very_ light sleep."

Bella only nodded, looking really down in the dumps, like she was disappointed with herself for some reason unknown by Lisa. Feeling bad for bringing it up, the blonde sighed.

"You don't need to tell anything, Bells, you know that, right?

They had finally arrived at Lisa's charger, and Lisa looked over the car towards Bella; the brunette nodded, entering the car. Lisa did the same.

"I know that," Bella finally answered, sighing loudly. "You're the first friend I have after the… _breakup_." She gulped, staring at Lisa with sad eyes. "You and Jacob are making it much easier for me, you know. Thanks for that,"

Lisa smiled softly, nodding. Bella, then, continued. "It's just that…it's _complicated._ Edward… he was different. I've always thought we'd be together forever, you know? Like, I was _sure_ of it. But then…" she shook her head, feeling the tears prickling in her eyes.

"Hey, I understand." Lisa interrupted, taking her friend's hand in her own, feeling them cold as hell. "As I said before, you don't need to tell anything if you don't feel comfortable to. It's just that I see you're sad, Bells. Sometimes you get that faraway look, like you're _actually_ seeing the guy right in front of you."

Bella's eyes snapped to her, and she gulped again. "Sometimes I actually do," she answered quietly after some time, biting her lower lip with force.

"What do you mean?" Lisa frowned, not really understanding.

Bella looked uncomfortable and uncertain if she should be honest or not; Lisa, having had to hide the truth about herself to some people for so long was able to instantly see if someone was lying. And Bella was a terrible liar. The brunette, though, surprising even Lisa, decided to tell the truth for a change.

"I see _him_ if I'm in a dangerous situation; like, he is standing there, looking at me and telling me _not_ to do anything reckless." It was Lisa's turn to be surprised; she tried her best not to show her worry about her friend in order not to scare Bella off. Instead she choose to nod and wait for her to continue.

"I know it's not him. I know it's not real," Bella sniffed, two tick tears falling down her pale face. "But it's the only chance I have of seeing him, you know? He vanished of my life with no traces left, only my broken heart and all this _constant_ pain. I'm sick of it, Lis, really, but at the same time, I don't want to let go. If I do, it means it's over. I don't want it to be over. I don't!"

Bella started to cry heavily, sobbing loudly, letting everything she was feeling slip through her tears; Lisa held her tight, trying to give her all the strength and comfort she didn't have at the moment. She felt terribly sorry for her, and wanted to make her pain go away. She didn't understand how she was feeling that way, but she knew it wasn't a normal behavior. Break up pain usually fades away with time, but Bella's wasn't. As she understood, months had gone by since Edward had left, leaving the girl behind like she was nothing, and Bella still hadn't recovered, on the contrary, she was getting worse by the day.

"H-he was _everything_ ," she said through sobs, "I l-love him so much,"

Lisa stroked her back in a comforting manner, waiting for her to put it all out.

"I don't know what to do anymore…I just want to… _vanish_. To get this over with," she whispered, closing her eyes.

"I understand, sweetie," Lisa told her quietly, still stroking her back like she was a small child crying over an injury. "I'm sure he loved you, too. But things not always happen the way we want to. Fate has weird ways to work, and we don't know what the future holds, but one thing is for sure – we get new chances every day. We just have to decide what we're going to do with them."

"W-what if he never comes back, like everyone says?" Bella raised her head from Lisa's chest, staring at her with her eyes wet and a running nose. "What if that was it? If he wasn't the love of my life as I had thought?"

Lisa smiled sadly, her hand taking a strand of Bella's hair and tucking it behind her ear. "If he wasn't the love of your life, than for sure the one will appear someday. And if he was, he'll find his way back."

"How do you know it?" the brunette asked softly, sniffing.

"Have you ever heard of that Chinese legend of the red thread of fate?" Bella shook her head, and Lisa continued with the story. "It says that when we're created, the gods tie an invisible red thread around our ankles, and it's connected to the ankles of the person we're destined to be with. The ones who are connected are destined to be lovers, regardless of time, place, age or circumstances. The thread may stretch a very long way, or even be tangled, but it _never_ breaks. Eventually, the lovers will find one another, since it's their fate to do so. And when the threads are finally reunited, there is literally nothing to break them, not even _death._ "

Bella listened to everything, hoping in her heart that Edward's thread was connected to hers.

"What I mean by that is that if you're meant to be, as cheesy as it sounds, he'll find his way back to you. Then, nothing will stop you from being together."

A silent moment passed by before any of the girls said anything; then, Bella smiled brightly, hugging Lisa as if her life depended on it.

"Thanks, Lis. You're a great friend."

Lisa smiled, patting Bella's head fondly. "You betcha I'm."

Bella moved away cleaning her face and nose with the sleeve of her jacket. "God, I'm a mess,"

"Yea, that's true,"

"Geez, thanks," the brunette rolled her eyes, looking at the mirror on the car and seeing her eyes and nose all red. "Do you have any make up?" she asked hopefully, even if she knew that that was improbable. Lisa rarely wore anything but eyeliner and mascara.

"No, but I have some toilet paper in the glove compartment," Lisa said, shrugging when Bella quirked an eyebrow.

"I'm not even asking why you have this in your car,"

"You don't wanna know,"

Bella snickered, taking the paper and cleaning the mess on her face. "Do you think that maybe we can go around before going to La Push? I'm looking terrible,"

"Sure, where to?"

Bella smiled openly, "I know a place."

* * *

"Wow, this place is huge!" Lisa said in awe, eyeing the beautiful and open clearing Bella had taken them to. "Really beautiful,"

She eyed the tall grass growing on the ground swaying gently with the wind; the clearing was so symmetric like it was made like that on purpose, the tall trees surrounding it not daring to invade. Lisa could smell the wet grass, the small animals going through their lives normally, the soft sound of the wind against the leaves of the trees. Nature was there, calling for her, calling for her _instincts_. Instantly she wanted to change and run around, her animalistic part feeling at was so entranced that she didn't realize the sadness in Bella's eyes; grinning, she ran in the middle of the grass, feeling it caressing her skin, wetting her pants and socks; she didn't care, though. The feeling of freedom was too much for her to care about little shallow details.

She turned to look at her friend, remembering she wasn't alone there, and her smile dropped when she saw the look on Bella's face. She was on her knees, looking desperately lost, eyes glued on the floor.

"Bells, are you ok?" she asked, running in her direction. It took a moment before Bella snapped out of her daze.

"This used to be our place…" she muttered, shaking her head. "But it's so different. The flowers aren't there anymore."

"It's because of the season," Lisa offered, sitting down next to her. "Do you wanna go? We can go somewhere else,"

Bella seemed to debate whether or not do just that, runaway from her demons once again. She shook her head, though, remembering Lisa's words from before.

 _"if you're meant to be, as cheesy as it sounds, he'll find his way back to you."_

"No, I wanna stay." She said with a nod, drying her wet eyes. "I won't run anymore."

Lisa smiled brightly, thinking that Bella finally was going to be able to move on. They stood there, staring at the clearing, Lisa enjoying it more than Bella for she could hear all the sounds coming from the woods around them. It made her feel at peace.

"Can I ask you something?" Bella suddenly asked breaking the comfortable silence they were in. Lisa only nodded, her eyes still glued to the tall grass. "Where do you _really_ come from?"

That question startled her, since she had no idea Bella had caught up with her lies. She hesitated to answer, abruptly feeling like a deer in the headlights. She gulped raking her brain in search for a good lie, and when she was about to tell it, Bella rolled her eyes.

"I already told you a secret of mine; it's your turn to tell me yours,"

Once again, Lisa was surprised by Bella's ability to read people. She shook her head, smiling besides the situation she was in; one wrong word, and the whole new life she was beginning to build for herself would be put in jeopardy.

"I come from Minnesota," she answered honestly.

"I knew it! Your accent is _way_ too different from Portland's accent."

Lisa snorted with laughter, shaking her head. "Here I was thinking that I was rocking the fake accent,"

"You sure weren't," Bella pointed, smirking. "Anyway, why did you move? Honestly,"

She sighed, taking off her beanie and passing a hand through her hair. "Let's do like that… I tell you a truth, and you tell me another. What do you think?"

Bella nodded, "Ok,"

Lisa sighed, thinking Bella wouldn't accept the offer. "Ok…so, I was born and raised in Kittson, it's a small town just like Forks,"

"That's why you're so comfortable here," Lisa nodded, laughing a little.

"I happen to like small towns," she shrugged, raising her eyebrow. "Your turn."

"Uhh, I don't know what to say that you already don't know," Bella blurted, lying straight through her teeth. "I was actually born here, in Forks, but my mom left my dad after I was born and we moved to Phoenix."

"Oh, so your dad is single?" Lisa wiggled her eyebrows suggestively, making Bella scrunch her nose and say "Ew!" that made the blonde laugh out loud. "I happen to like my men old, baby,"

"Urgh, that's disgusting!"

"What? Love?" she laughed even more, Bella shaking her head but chuckling.

"Tell me another thing," she asked, less down in the dumps.

"Mhmm, lemme think…My parents are two assholes,"

"Was that why you left?" Bella asked curiously, and Lisa decided to tell her partly the truth.

"Kinda. I _hated_ living there, so I decided I wanted a change."

Bella nodded in understanding. "Like I said, I moved because my mom remarried, but I never really wanted to. I did it, though, and I don't regret my decision."

"Good, regretting never lead us anywhere."

The two girls stood there in silence, each of them wondering about their own regrets in life, which both had many.

"What do you think about Jake?" Lisa suddenly asked, genuinely curious. Though the Quileute boy was obviously in love with her friend, Bella's perception on the boy was totally oblivious to Lisa.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you know that he obviously likes you," at this, Bella looked uncomfortable, blushing. "C'mon, don't tell me you didn't notice?"

"I did," she sighed loudly, lying down on the ground and passing her hands through he face. "I don't see him like that, though. It's just that he is so young,"

"He's not _that_ young," _at least not for you,_ she thought, "He's sixteen, but he actually looks like he is our age."

"I don't know… I guess I also prefer my men old," she chuckled, staring at the sky.

"How old was… _you know who_?"

Bella quirked one eyebrow, smirking. "Are we in _Harry Potter_ now?" Lisa only rolled her eyes, sending Bella a pointed look. "He was… our age,"

"You lying," she snapped, shifting her eyes to the sky. Bella stared at her in shock by the outburst, not knowing what to say.

"It's… _complicated_ ,"

"What, was he an old guy passing by a teenager?" it was an attempt to joke, but neither girls laughed. Instead, an uncomfortable silence fell between them, which made Lisa desperately want to swift topics. "Was he like Benjamin Button?"

It worked, since Bella chuckled. "That'd have been weird,"

"Agreed."

"Anyway, I just don't think Jake and I would work. Also, I'm not thinking about relationships at all right now,"

"I understand." Lisa nodded, "You'll have to tell him that, though. The boy certainly is smitten with you."

"I honestly don't know what he sees in me,"

"You're hot, what else?"

Bella slapped Lisa, laughing.

"You're an ass," the brunette said, shaking her head.

"Not lying, though,"

"Anyway," Bella rolled her eyes, "I think we should go, it's getting dark and I still want to go to Jacob's."

"Yeah, let's go."

They left the clearing and walked on the woods talking quietly amongst themselves about nothing important, until they finally got to the edge where Lisa's car was parked. They entered the car and Lisa sped off towards La Push, the usual 80's rock playing as the girls sang along, laughing at their terrible crow voices.

* * *

When they got to the Black's house, Jacob was already working on the bikes, much to Lisa's dismay. The blonde got all mad saying that he was doing all the fun work without her, which made Bella snicker and Jacob roll his eyes in annoyance. Soon, Bella was sat on the ground watching while Lisa and Jake worked each on one of the bikes – Jacob on the Harvey and Lisa on the Honda -, and while they did that, they chatted and joked around, specially Jake and Lisa, who were becoming good friends by the passing of days.

Jacob updated the girls on the progress of his sophomore year of school, telling them about his classes on the reservation's school, the teachers and his best friends, Quil Ateara and Embry Call.

"Quil is a hand-me-down, and I think Embry got named after a soap opera star." He explained the origins of his friend's names after Bella wondered at how unusual they were. "I can't say anything, though. They fight dirty if you start on their names – they'll tag team you."

"Good friends," Bella commented, raising one eyebrow while Lisa chuckled.

"They are. Just don't mess with their names,"

"Noted," Lisa said, not taking her eyes off the crash bars she was attaching to the Honda, after discussing with Jacob that since the bike was for Bella, it needed to have all the protection in the world. It was a fact that the brunette was a magnet for danger.

Just after Jacob was telling the story about his friends, a voice echoed from the front of Jacob's house calling his name.

"Is that Billy?" Bella asked worried. The girl was constantly worried that Billy would come to the garage, find out what they had been doing and tell Charlie.

"No," Jacob answered, ducking his head to hide the obvious blush on his cheeks. "Speak of the devil, and the devil shall appear," he muttered under his breath, which made Lisa raise one eyebrow.

"Jake, are you out there?" the voice was becoming closer, and Lisa could smell two different scents, both a mixture of cologne, earth and sweat.

"I'm here," Jacob shouted back, sighing.

They all waited until whoever was calling came closer, and after a couple of minutes two tall boys entered the garage.

Both of them had dark hair, though one of them had it longer than the other; they also had a different built, one was more burly while the other was slender. Both were very cute, though, as Lisa noted.

They stopped and looked back and forth between the girls, before they stopped on Bella and a smile appeared on the burly one's face.

Jacob cleared his throat, greeting them with zero enthusiasm.

"Hey guys,"

"Hey, Jake," the shorter answered, his eyes never leaving Bella. Lisa quirked an eyebrow at that, thinking that maybe another Quileute was falling for her friend. Bella smiled at him, and in turn he winked at her. "Hi, there."

Jacob rolled his eyes with such force that Lisa had to stifle a laugh.

"Quil, Embry, these are my friends, Bella and Lisa,"

Acknowledgment dawned on Lisa, and she understood why Jacob was so annoyed.

"Hey, nice to meet you," Lisa stood up, offering her hand to the one closer to her – the taller. He sent her a charming smile, taking her hand instantly.

"So you're the mechanic Jacob is so jealous about?" he wondered, smirking at his friend when he grunted. Lisa only quirked an eyebrow, glancing between them.

"Is he now?" she smirked, crossing her arms and looking at Jacob. "Don't worry, Jake. I can teach you,"

Quil, Embry and Bella laughed, whilst Jacob rolled his eyes and went back to fixing the Harvey.

"I'm Quil Ateara," the shorter boy extended his hand to Lisa, who shook it smiling. Then, he turned to Bella, "You're Charlie's kid, right?"

"That's right," she nodded, accepting his extended hand and shaking it. Lisa had bit her lip to stop her laughter when she realized Quil was flexing his bicep to Bella. "Nice to meet you, Quil."

Then it was Embry's turn to introduce himself, and after all introductions were properly made, the boys stared at the bikes Lisa and Jacob were fixing.

"So what are you guys doing?" Quil wondered.

"Lisa and I are fixing these bikes," Jacob answered, before smirking. "Bella is just keeping us company."

"Oh, thanks Jake," the brunette answered drily, though what he said was actually true.

"Is that a Harvey?" Embry asked, eyeing the bike with stars in his eyes, "How did you get her?"

"Bella actually got them from a garage sale," Jacob said, also eyeing the bike he was certain would be one of his masterpieces when it was done.

"Wow, that's so cool!" the tall boy said excitedly, admiring the bike.

"So, it's not very common for girls to know how to fix bikes," Quil commented eyeing the work Lisa had done so far with the Honda.

"Actually, it is. We just don't show off like you guys like to do," she joked, wiping her oil dirt hands on a rag. Jacob, Embry and Bella laughed, while Quil smirked.

"I see. Jacob told us that you're pretty good,"

" _Pretty_ good? Really, Jake?" she turned to look at the boy, who just shrugged. "I'm _really_ good. The Honda is almost ready, we just need some extra parts, and after I finish, I'll help Jake out with some parts of the Harvey."

"That's true. Lisa fixed her own car all by herself," Bella offered, and both Embry and Quil stared at her with wide eyes.

"The 70's dodger? It's yours?" Embry asked, even more excited. Lisa noted that he also was into mechanics, and made a mental note to ask Jake to invite him to their party.

"It is. The love of my life pretty much." She smiled proudly. "I used to work as a mechanic before I moved into Forks,"

"Where were you from?" Quil asked, interested.

"Portland," she exchanged a look with Bella, telling the lie she usually gave people.

"Sweet,"

They continued to talk for some time, before Bella's cellphone started ringing. It happened to be Charlie asking her what time she would come back home. It was only then that the girls realized that it was already 8 pm, and that they had stayed there for far longer than they usually did. It certainly because of the presence of Embry and Quil, they were very easy and fun to talk to; they talked about bike parts, mostly, but also telling some embarrassing stories about Jacob, which made the boy so annoyed that it was fun to watch.

"So, I kinda have to go, Charlie's wondering if he should order a pizza or not," Bella told them after finishing the call.

Lisa stood up, cleaning her hands on her dirty overall – she had actually brought it with her when she moved just in case she found a job as a mechanic.

"Could we come back tomorrow?" Bella asked hopefully, which made Quil and Embry exchange grins.

"That'd be great!" Jacob smiled happily.

"By the way, we need to buy those parts missing," Lisa mentioned, which made Jacob nod.

"Make a list and we can go shopping," Bella told them.

"I'm still not sure if I should let you pay for everything. Especially since I'm keeping the Harvey,"

"Don't worry about it, Jake. I'm bankrolling this party, so you and Lisa just have to supply the labor and the knowledge."

"That doesn't seem right," Jacob still wasn't convinced, and Lisa nudged his shoulder, grinning.

"C'mon, boyo. Stop worrying so much,"

"Yea, besides, most of the more expensive work you're already doing," Bella finished, and Jacob finally relented.

"Okay, you're getting a deal,"

"Not to mention the riding lessons," Bella added. Since she didn't know how to ride bikes, which was no surprise to anyone, Jacob offered to help her out.

At this, Quil grinned at Embry and whispered a "she'll ride alright," that didn't pass unnoticed by Lisa, who shot them both the scariest look she was able to manage; it worked, because both boys lost their smirks.

"Anyway, we have to go. See you tomorrow, Jake. Quil, Embry, nice meeting you two," Bella said and started walking out of the garage. Lisa was going to do the same before she stopped and glancing behind her at Embry and Quil.

"Assholes," she spat, flipping the bird at them. They tried very hard not to laugh, but they did anyway, even Jacob.

"Nice meeting you, too, Lis. See you around!" Quil said, still shaking with laughter. She rolled her eyes and left, unable not to hear the _"She's my kind of woman,"_ from Embry Call.

She smirked, shaking her head. Boys will be boys anywhere in the world, she thought.

"What's it?" Bella asked, poking her head through the window of the car.

"Nevermind," Lisa shook her head, entering her dodger and turning on the engine. Less than a minute later, they were speeding off of La Push towards Forks.


	7. Chapter VI

The next day, the trio – Bella, Jacob and Lisa – went to the dumps to search for parts of the bikes that were missing. They all rode on Lisa's dodge since it had more space for people than Bella's truck; on the way there, they had all talked amicably, joking around and listening to good music. At the dump they found some parts that would be just perfect to the bikes and weren't all that expensive either. Both Jake and Lisa were excited about it, while Bella just found it strange that they could be that happy over what she called grease-blackened pieces of twisted metal. After that, they went to the Checker Auto Parts in Hoquiam, and the two hour ride was filled with chat from Jacob telling them about his school and friends.

Jacob was a very nice company to keep, and Lisa enjoyed the boy immensely. Bella thought so, too, since she didn't have that saddened look on her eyes anymore, and it made Lisa happy – also, she secretly supported the boy's crush on Bella, and hoped that maybe the brunette would fall for him too. She knew that Bella wasn't quite there yet since her heart was still healing, and she didn't think it was a good idea to use Jacob for that healing process; however, she did hope that when Bella was completely back on her feet, she would _see_ Jacob. They'd make a nice couple.

"Sooo, I'm doing all the talking," he complained after almost one hour talking about himself. "Why don't you take a turn? What's going on in Forks? It has to be more exciting than La Push."

"Oh, I have a fresh piece of gossip." Lisa commented, smirking. "Mr. Steinberg finally put on his false teeth after almost a month since he lost his last one. We were all very excited to hear,"

Bella snickered while Jacob rolled his eyes dramatically.

"Yea, there's really nothing interesting going on there." Bella nodded, "Your friends are a lot more interesting than mine. I like your friends. Quil's funny."

Jacob frowned, crossing his arms. "I think he likes you, too."

Lisa looked at Jacob over the mirror, and when their eyes met, she quirked an eyebrow.

Bella, though, only laughed. "He's a little young for me,"

Jacob frowned even harder before answering. "He's not that much younger than you. It's just a year and a few months."

Lisa, sensing the conversation had suddenly shifted and that Jacob wasn't talking about Quil anymore, decided to intervene.

"Well, Bella happens to like her boys a little gray, y'know,"

Bella gasped, slapping her friend's arm. "Hey, I'm not the one with daddy issues here."

"Are you sure?" at the look on Bella's face, Lisa laughed. "Hey, don't blame me. You're the one talking about him being too young."

The brunette rolled her eyes, crossing her arms. "It's not like that. I'm only saying that considering the difference in maturity between guys and girls, don't you have to count that in dog years? What does that make me, about twelve years older?"

"Ok, that makes literally _no_ sense."

Jacob laughed, rolling his eyes. "Ok, if you're going to get picky like that, you have to average in size, too. You're so small, I'll have to knock ten years off your total."

Bella looked offended, shaking her head. "Five foot four is perfectly average. It's not my fault you're freakingly tall."

"Geez, thanks." Lisa muttered, smirking.

"What? If I walk between you two, I'll look like a kid."

Jacob and Lisa laughed out loud, while Bella sulked. "Ohmy, we need to do the experiment; let's pretend she's our daughter, Jake."

"No way!"

They continued to banter all the way to Hoquiam, talking about age, weight, eventually going to food, what the best food in the world was – in Lisa's opinion it was certainly pizza, but Jacob thought it was cheese burger and Bella pasta. Finally they arrived in Checker, and both mechanics went after the parts they needed to complete their work. When they returned to La Push, the conversation about age had returned between Jacob and Bella, and they had decided that Bella was twenty-three, Jacob was thirty – because of the amount of knowledge he had regarding cars -, and Lisa was way past fifty.

As soon as they got to the garage, they started working, while Bella took her usual spot over the Rabbit.

"So, I say we need to play twenty questions right now." Lisa mentioned with her hands already dirty with grease from the bike. This time, she wasn't wearing the overall, just a pair of faded jeans and an old AC/DC t-shirt.

"Shoot," Jacob said, also working on the Harvey.

"Ok, question for you two. Would you rather live in a cold or hot place?"

"Hot," Jacob answered.

"Cold," Bella said. "My turn: would you rather sleep forever or not sleep at all?"

"Not sleep," both Jacob and Lisa answered equally.

It was Jacob's turn now. "Would you rather live forever or die young?"

"Live forever," Lisa said.

Bella was quiet for a moment, pondering over the question. "I guess live forever."

They continued playing until they got sick, then decided to just chat about everything and nothing at the same time. The time flew by, and soon it was dark outside, and Billy was calling them.

Bella instantly jumped, afraid the old man would come in the garage and found out what they had been doing over almost a month. They started to put the things away, before Billy called again and Jacob stopped.

"Just leave it," he told them, "I'll work on it later, anyway,"

"Hey, don't touch the Honda," Lisa warned him, and he nodded.

"Don't forget your schoolwork either, Jake. Don't wanna be a bad influence on you,"

"Said the straight A student," Lisa muttered, smirking.

"Bella?" they all turned toward the direction Charlie's voice had come from. It was close to the garage, which meant he was coming over. Bella's eyes widened before she ran away faster than her legs should've allowed.

"Let's go," Jacob told Lisa, and they went right after the brunette.

Sure enough Charlie was there with Billy, talking about fishing, when the trio appeared.

"Hey, dad," both Bella and Jacob greeted, laughing after they said at the same time.

Charlie's dark eyes widened for a fraction of second, probably seeing his daughter smiling after so long.

"Billy invited us for dinner," he told his daughter.

"My super secret recipe for spaghetti. Handed down for generations," Billy retorted.

Jacob shook his head, snorting. "I don't think Ragu's actually been around that long."

"Anyway," Billy rolled his eyes, before looking over to Lisa, who was standing there awkwardly, feeling like she was intruding in a family moment. "Hey, Lis, the invitation extends to you, too."

That surprised her. Since she rarely spoke to Billy – they were always trying to avoid him for Bella's sake -, she didn't know how the old man felt about her. He always treated her with friendliness, though, and that was enough for her to hold him in high regards. He was also a good father to Jacob, she knew that. Charlie, on the other hand, Lisa was used to. She had already had many sleepovers on the Swan's household, and Charlie liked her a lot, and the feeling was mutual. He always let Bella sleep over at her place, too, and he had even mentioned to her that the girl used to have nightmares. Needless to say, she was happy to be invited for the dinner.

They all entered the Black's household, seeing that there were many unfamiliar faces around. There was an old man with his wife and two children – a very cute boy and a tall, beautiful girl who was at the phone when they all entered the house.

"Lisa, these are the Clearwaters – Harry, Sue," Billy pointed to the older, "Seth and Leah." The boy came over her excitedly extending his hand.

"Nice to meet you!" he said with a bright, big smile on his face. Lisa instantly liked him.

"You too," she answered, also smiling. She did the same with his parents, and nodded towards the girl, who only nodded back.

They all sat around the small kitchen table, the smell of pasta sauce already filling the house and making Lisa's stomach growl with hunger. When the dinner was served, they all sat around the table, talking and enjoying the moment. The old men talked about fishing and games, with Sue eventually popping a comment here and there; Lisa sat together with Jacob, Bella and Seth, laughing about the stories Seth was telling about his school. The boy was really funny.

"I remember Mr. Brown, he was annoying as hell," Jacob said when Seth mentioned the Biology teacher who had sent him to the principal for not shutting up.

"He still is," Seth agreed, eating a fork full of pasta. "Damn, that day my mother beat the shit outta me,"

Lisa laughed, shaking her head. "I guess you deserved it,"

They continued talking during all dinner, laughing and joking like they didn't have a worry in the world. Unfortunately the meeting had to finish early because of the heavy rain that started to fall outside. They took all the dishes to the kitchen, where Sue told Seth and Leah to wash everything, much to her children's dismay. When Lisa, Bella and Charlie – who would have to be given a ride home since he didn't come with his car -, left, Lisa could still hear Leah swearing under her breath.

The way back to Forks was spent pretty much in silence; as usual, Lisa turned on her stereo, and the soft rock filled the place mixed with the sound of the rain falling against the car metal.

"You think you'll visit again anytime soon?" Charlie, who was sitting on the front of the car with Lisa, looked at both girls briefly.

"Yeah, tomorrow after school," Bella told him. "We'll take the homework, so don't worry,"

"You be sure to do that," he ordered, sounding all papa bear. Lisa smiled, not taking her eyes out of the dark road.

Soon the Swan household appeared, and father and daughter left the car. Charlie, before leaving, told Lisa to have dinner with them more often, an invitation that made her heart warm; when she left them, going to her own silent place, Lisa felt a sudden emptiness on her chest. For the first time in years, she felt lonely and it _bothered_ her. After being with Jacob and Bella constantly for the past month, and being part of the family dinner that day, made her feel like she had a family, too. Though she knew it wasn't like that, and that maybe Charlie and Billy were just being polite, she still felt pretty good about it.

When she got home that day, she decided to take ice cream she had stored in her fridge, and sitting on her comfy couch, she ate the whole bowl while watching TV.

The next morning, when Lisa parked in front of the Swan's household, she noticed that something was wrong with Bella. The way she came down the stairs with her head bowed low, her dark hair messy around her pale face, the dark bags under her shallow eyes, and that look – the look of utter sadness -, made Lisa instantly worry. Bella entered her car saying a small and languid "Good morning", not really feeling like it was good.

The ride towards Forks High School was unusually silent, filled with the Scorpions CD playing and Lisa's singing under her breath; once in a while she glanced towards Bella, seeing the brunette staring at the forest passing through in a blur outside the car. She pulled over her usual parking space, and they sat there, waiting for gods know what to happen.

"Ok, what happened?" she finally asked, unable to stand the silence anymore. Bella seemed to snap out of her daze, looking at her with _lifeless_ eyes.

 _She isn't here today,_ Lisa thought sadly.

"What do you mean?" Bella wondered, confused. Lisa's eyes softened, while she sighed and shifted her look towards the school building.

"Bella, we've been friends for what? Two months now?" Bella nodded, still not understanding. "We pretty much spend the whole day together. I think I know you well enough to know when you're not okay."

"Oh," it was the only thing that left Bella's lips. Her eyes were downcast, staring at her limp hands.

"So, what happened? Did you not sleep today?" Bella glanced at her for a moment, before shaking her head. "Nightmares again?"

"Yea,"

"Do you wanna talk about it?"

Bella sighed, "Not really."

Although she was disappointed, Lisa didn't push Bella. She knew that she would tell her when she was ready to. So she did the only thing she could at moments like those, when her friend's depression kicked in; she took her hand and squeezed it, only to show that she was there, and she wasn't going anywhere. Bella knew it, too, because she sent her a grateful smile, before they let go of each other hands and left the car.

The school day was, as always, uneventful. After the first period of class, Lisa and Bella left the English class and went towards the cafeteria. Bella was still down in the dumps but less than in the morning, so Lisa was happy with that. Both girls pick out their lunch, Lisa's tray full, and Bella's with as little as she could eat – there was an extra package of apple slices, though, that she always grabbed for Lisa -, and went in the direction of their usual table.

It was surprising when they realized it was full with people.

"Damn," Lisa muttered, annoyed that someone had taken their place, though it wasn't really theirs.

"I know them, c'mon," Bella said, going forward in the direction of the table.

Lisa sighed, but went after her anyway. She didn't like having _that_ much noisy people together in one place, though she didn't have any other options. As soon as the people on the table spotted them coming in their direction, they started whispering. It would have been impossible for any regular person to listen to what they were saying, but then Lisa wasn't regular, and she heard perfectly a blonde girl with short hair turning to another with curly, brown hair and blue eyes and saying,

 _"Here come the school's weirdoes,"_

It made her blood boil, but she just pushed the thought of smashing the girls' face on the table away. Bella was the first to pull a chair, sitting next to a blond guy, and Lisa sat down right next to her, facing a girl with glasses and a warm smile.

Nobody told them anything, and neither one of them spoke either. It was weird, really, but Lisa didn't give two shits about it. She started to fill her mouth with food, analyzing absentmindedly all the people around the table.

"Where's Ben today?" the girl with short blond hair asked the one with glasses, her voice even more annoying when Lisa was standing that close to her. She also had a way too sweet smell.

"Ben's got the stomach flu," the girl with glasses answered with a quiet, calm voice. "Hopefully it's just some twenty-four hour thing. He was really sick last night,"

"What did you two do this weekend?" the girl with brown, curly hair asked, and then a conversation about what they had done over the weekend started, and Lisa just shut off her hearing, deciding to focus on the food.

"You're not going to see any bears that close to the resort,"

"Really, we did see it,"

"No, she's right. We had a hiker in just a month ago who saw the bear, too,  
Angela. He said it was huge and black and just outside of town, didn't he, Mike?"

Lisa's attention turned in the conversation after listening to Bella's voice; the girl was as quiet as she had been, so she didn't expect anything from her either.

Everyone was silent, all eyes staring at Bella like she had two heads. Bella was starting to get red in the face, embarrassed by the amount of attention she was receiving.

"Mike? Remember the guy with the bear story?" she asked the blonde guy beside her, who stuttered to answer.

"S-sure." He cleared his throat before speaking again, "Yeah, We had a hiker in just Saturday who saw the bear, too,  
Angela. He said it was huge and black and just outside of town, didn't he, Mike?"

The focus of the conversation quickly died, and everyone turned their head to talk about something else; the only ones still paying attention to Bella were the guy, Mike, and the girl, Angela.

"So, what did you do this weekend, Bella?" Mike asked curiously.

All eyes from the table returned to Bella, and Lisa felt bad for her friend. She knew that Bella hated to be on the spotlight; she was, after all, rather shy. The brunette gulped before answering, looking uncomfortable.

"Lisa and I spent it in La Push. We have some friends there,"

"What do you even do there?" he asked once more, and his tone made Lisa want to roll her eyes.

"We talk and just…chill." Was all that Bella offered them; after that, the focus of the conversation shifted again, though everyone shot Bella and Lisa glances once in every five minutes.

 _And the freaks are us,_ Lisa thought to herself, annoyed with all the looks.

The only person nice enough was the girl with glasses, Angela, and when Bella and Lisa stood up to empty their trays of food, she followed.

"Thanks," she told Bella, smiling kindly.

"For what?"

"Speaking up, sticking up to me," the girl answered, her voice so low and shy that she reminded Lisa of Bella.

"No problem,"

They continued on in silence, before Angela spoke again. "Are you okay?"

"Not completely," Bella admitted, "But I'm a little bit better."

"I'm glad. I've missed you,"

Lisa liked the girl, differently from the other people at the table – more specifically the two that passed over them whispering loudly, "Oh, joy, Bella's back."

They just ignored them, and continued on their way. Bella and Lisa had Gym, whilst Angela had Biology, so they went on different paths. Lisa and Bella talked quietly to each other before the class started and they were forced to play soccer.

At the end of the school day, as usual Lisa met Bella on her locker. She grabbed her stuff and they went out in silence, each lost in their own thoughts; Lisa was still worried about Bella's behavior, but there wasn't much she could do to help her out. She only hoped that she would be ok.

"So, I don't think I'm gonna go to La Push today," Bella spoke up when they were in the dodger, making Lisa's eyes widen.

"Why not?"

"I have…lots of homework to do."

It was a lie, Lisa knew it, and Bella knew that she knew it, too. She didn't clarify it, though, and Lisa didn't feel like pushing her for the truth. Like always, she just hoped she would open up when she was ready.

Gulping down her surprise and worry, she smiled. "Well, I guess that's ok. I'm still going, though, I told Jake I'd help him out with the engine."

Bella nodded, and they didn't say anything else.

Like when they were going to school, the ride was silent. Bella just stared out the window, and Lisa hummed her favorite songs. When she dropped off Bella in front of her house, she smiled.

"Be safe, ok? If you need anything, call me."

"Ok, thanks, Lis. Tell Jake I'm sorry I won't be able to go."

"No worries. See you,"

"Bye,"

She turned back her car and headed straight to La Push. By now, the way was already tattooed on her mind, and she could probably do it with her eyes closed. As soon as she pulled on the Black's yard, Jacob's head appeared. He had his usual big smile that lost a little of its vivacity when he saw that she was alone.

"Geez, Jake. You could at least mask the disappointment," she pointed, smirking when he rolled his eyes.

"I'm happy you're here, too." Lisa didn't doubt that, after all, they had become good friends, too.

"So, Bella said she had tons of homework to do, that's why she isn't here,"

Jacob's arched an eyebrow, not really buying the excuse like Lisa didn't. The blonde only shrugged, and he sighed.

"She had a bad day?"

"I guess you could say that," she mumbled, going with him towards their little sanctuary.

She saw that Billy was over the window looking, and waved on his direction, which he returned.

"I wish I'd help her," he said in a low, sad voice. Lisa patted him on the back, attracting the boy's attention.

"We help her by staying on her side, Jake. For now, that's all we can do. Hold her hand while she sinks, so she doesn't drawn; when she is strong enough to hold back, we pull her out."

He smiled, nodding. "I guess you're right,"

"Sooo, whatacha doing?" she asked, eyeing the bikes. She realized that Jacob had played around with the Harvey, like he said he would.

"I was just gonna add the breaks,"

"Nice, let's start then."

The hours passed by quickly. Jacob and Lisa put the new parts they had bought on the bikes, and Lisa helped him with the engine. The two had a good synchrony, and they put on the radio and listened to music while working; they also joked around, chatted about their lives, even gossiped a little – she found out that Quil had actually a small crush on Bella, and Jacob didn't like it a bit.

It was around six when the sound of Bella's truck engine filled the air, making Lisa and Jacob stare at each other. Soon, Bella's brown hair was seen.

"Hey, Bella," Jacob called, and the girl smiled when she saw her friends.

"Hey, Jake, Lis. What are you doing?"

"We were attaching the tires, actually. What about you?" Lisa answered, putting her arm around Bella's shoulder and dragging her to the garage.

"Doing homework," she obviously lied, but again Lisa didn't say anything.

"Was it difficult?"

"Nothing I couldn't do,"

The trio entered the garage, and Bella's eyes almost fell from the sockets when she eyed the bikes.

"Guys, you're amazing!" she breathed, her mouth gaping. Jake and Lisa chuckled.

"Well, we kinda got obsessed with it," Jacob answered, shrugging. "If I had any brains I'd drag it out a little bit."

"Why?" Bella asked, confused.

Suddenly, the air shifted, making Lisa slightly uncomfortable. She went back to the Honda, leaving Bella and Jacob talking, not really wanting to intrude.

"Bella, if I told you that I couldn't fix these bikes, what would you say?" he asked, unsure.

Bella waited before answering back. "I would say… that's too bad, but I'll bet we could figure out something else to do. If we got really desperate, we could even do homework."

"So you think you'll still come over when I'm done, then?"

"Is that what you meant? I guess I'm taking advantage of your very underpriced mechanical skills. But as long as you let me come over, I'll be here."

"Hoping to see Quil again?"

This time, Lisa chuckled. Oh, if only Bella said yes, the look on Jacob's face would be priceless.

"You caught me." Was her answer.

"So, you're like spending time with me?"

"Very, very much. And I'll prove it. I have to work tomorrow, but Wednesday we'll do  
something nonmechanical."

"Like what?"

"I have no idea. We can go to my place so you won't be tempted to be obsessive. You could bring your schoolwork—you have to be getting behind, because I know I am."

"Ditto," Lisa supplied, flinching at the amount of homework she had to eventually do.

"Homework might be a good idea."

"Yes," Bella agreed. "We'll have to start being responsible occasionally, or Billy and Charlie aren't going to be so easygoing about this."

"Homework once a week?"

"Maybe we'd better go with twice,"

Jacob sighed, before going to a grocery bag and taking three soda cans; he threw one to Lisa, and handed in one to Bella, keeping one for himself.

"Here's to responsibility," he toasted, "Twice a week,"

"Lots of junk food to help us keep up," Lisa added.

"And recklessness every day in between," Bella offered, making Lisa and Jacob smile.

They touched their cans, laughing softly later.

When Lisa and Bella left, it was already late. Since they had come with different cars, each of them went home alone, which neither really enjoyed. They had gotten used to riding together, listening to music and talking about everything and nothing at the same time.

The rest of the week had passed with nothing really different or unusual. As always, Bella and Lisa went to school together, then they went to La Push to meet Jake – sometimes Quil and Embry would join, too -, and then they returned home. Once a week, though, they all went to Bella's house to study, like they had agreed to do. On the weekends, things were slightly different, since both Bella and Lisa had to work. On Saturday, after work, Bella and Lisa went home together, once again to meet with Jacob and study. On Sunday, while Bella stayed home, Jacob and Lisa had planned, behind her back, to make her a surprise. The blonde went to La Push early in the morning, meeting Jacob at the garage, as usual, so they could finish working on the bikes.

Sure enough they did, and with a sad, shared smiled, they decided to call Bella. She would certainly be happy. Jacob called her, telling her to come over to La Push, and after thirty minutes or so, her truck parked in front of the Black's house. Both Lisa and Jacob stood there, the bikes barely hidden under a spruce, waiting for Bella to notice. They had even tied a blue ribbon around the handlebars.

"So, you ready?" Jacob asked excitedly.

"Yeah!" Bella answered, looking excited and frightened at the same time. Lisa laughed at this.

They put the bikes on the back of the truck and after grabbing some snacks, headed over the direction of the place Jake had said would be perfect for them to try the bikes on.

They all drove on Bella's truck, squeezed in the small space – they decided since Jacob was the tallest, he would be the one driving to leave more space for the girls. They drove south out of town, talking excitedly all the way, Lisa and Jacob telling Bella how they had finished everything so fast. When they were in the middle of a discussion about who had been faster – Lisa or Jake -, Bella's eyes suddenly caught sight of something and she shouted.

"No!"

"What's wrong?" Lisa asked her friend, worried about the sudden outburst.

"That guy — he just jumped off the cliff! Why didn't they stop him? We've got to call an ambulance!" she wanted to get out from the car, but Lisa stopped her immediately, since Jacob was _still_ driving the car.

Speaking of the boy, his laughed filled the car, attracting both girls' attention.

"They're just cliff diving, Bella. Recreation. La Push doesn't have a mall, you know." He explained.

"Cliff diving?"

"That's crazy!" Lisa looked out the window, seeing as another person jumped off the cliff. She saw when he splashed on the water, resurfacing right after, grinning. "Looks like fun,"

"What? It's really high," Bella was flabbergasted, her eyes wide. "It must be a hundred feet."

"Well, yeah, most of us jump from lower down, that rock that juts out from the cliff about halfway. Those guys are insane. Probably showing off how tough they are. I mean, really, it's freezing today. That water can't feel good."

Lisa, then, opened the window to try and get a better look, when she _felt_ it. The smell. The hair on the back of her neck stood up, the instinct to growl when feeling another wolf making her bit her lip. Her eyes widened when realization sank in; they were _wolves._ They were shifters. There were shifters in Forks.

 _Fuck!_ She screamed mentally, not really believing that of all places she could have gone to, she had to come to the one that had people just like her. She continued to watch them, not listening to what Bella and Jacob were discussing anymore, and all the pieces clicked together in her mind. Why they could jump so high from the cliff and not hurt themselves; why they didn't get cold with the iced water.

She gulped, her heart racing wildly inside her chest. As fast as a lightning, she closed her window, not wanting them to notice her scent.

 _They are the bears everyone is talking about_ , she thought, _it was one of them that I saw when I first came to La Push_.

It all made sense now, why there was a wolf in the middle of the reservation, when usually they'd be far off from civilization. How could she not have thought of that?

"Lis? Are you alright?" her head snapped to the side, seeing that Bella was looking at her with a worried expression on her face; Jacob, too, was looking, though he was more curious.

"Yes, I'm. Just spaced out a bit," it wasn't a lie, so Bella nodded.

They returned to the road, all of them lost in their own thoughts.

"So, who are those guys – the crazy ones?" Bella was the first to break the silence, curious as always.

Jacob made a disgusted sound, which perked Lisa's ears instantly. "The La Push gang."

"You have a gang?" Bella asked, impressed.

Jacob laughed at that, shaking his head. "Not like that. I swear, they're like hall monitors gone bad. They don't start fights, they keep the peace."

 _So they are peaceful, protectors._ Lisa thought, biting her lip in wonder. _I have to be careful, then. If they think of me as a treat, certainly something bad will happen._

"There was this guy from up somewhere by the Makah rez, big guy too, scary-looking. Well, word got around that he was selling meth to kids, and Sam Uley and his disciples ran him off our land." Jacob continued, shaking his head and staring at the girls. "They're all about our land , and tribe _pride_ … it's getting ridiculous. The worst part is that the council takes them seriously. Embry said that the council actually meets with Sam. Embry also heard from Leah Clearwater that they call themselves 'protectors' or  
something like that."

Jacob was pissed, that much was clear by the way he clenched his fists on the steering wheel. He obviously had no idea about the fact that those protectors were nothing less than _wolves_ or shifters, as some legends preferred to call them. The gang was probably a pack, and Sam Uley, the guy Jake seemed to hate, was likely the alpha. Lisa gulped, shifting her gaze towards the beautiful Pacific Ocean glistening under the little sun rays passing through the clouds; she felt her anxiety quick in, her breath erratic when she thought of the possibility of having a confrontation with those guys, or even worse, being forced to leave Forks, since it was _their_ territory. It was clear amongst wolves, and other supernatural creatures that existed in the world, unknown by most humans, that no one enters one's territory without being invited to.

Back in Kittson, Lisa's clan ruled over the Northwest part of Minnesota, encompassing almost all the counties in that region; years of wars for territory amongst other clans resulted in them being one of the biggest clans of wolves in the U.S. Now, Lisa had no idea if the wolves from La Push ruled over Forks or even more. She would have to look into it later.

"You don't like them very much." Bella pointed out to Jake, and he scoffed.

"Does it show?"

"Well… It doesn't sound like they're doing anything bad. Just sort of annoyingly goody-two-shoes for a gang." Bella said, trying to soften the conversation a little.

"Yeah. Annoying is a good word. They're always showing off—like the cliff thing. They act like… like, I don't know. Like tough guys. I was hanging out at the store with Embry and Quil once, last semester, and Sam came by with _his followers_ , Jared and Paul. Quil said something, you know how he's got a big mouth, and it pissed Paul off. His eyes got all dark, and he sort of smiled—no, he showed his teeth but he didn't smile—and it was like he was so mad he was  
shaking or something. But Sam put his hand against Paul's chest and shook his head. Paul looked at him for a minute and calmed down. Honestly, it was like Sam was holding him back—like Paul was going to tear us up if Sam didn't stop him."

Lisa frowned, realizing that if the guy was that fast to lose his temper, then he was just a pup. It took years of experience for a shifter to control the transformation.

 _Are they all pups?_ Lisa wondered, feeling slightly relieved by the prospect. Pups were easier to scare off. At least in her clan they were.

"You know, Sam's a pretty big guy, he's twenty. But Paul's just sixteen, too, shorter than me and not as beefy as Quil. I think any one of us could take him."

"Don't do that," Lisa snapped, speaking for the first time after long minutes of silence. Jacob and Bella stared at her with confusion, and she tried to fix the situation smiling and coming up with an excuse. "It's not cool to get into fights, Jake."

For her relief, Bella nodded, also worried about their friend getting beaten. "That's true. Besides, it doesn't seem to me like they were the troublemakers' type,"

"Honestly, they aren't," Jacob sighed almost as if he was disappointed, "I've never seen they get into a fight with people that _weren't_ bad, like the drug dealer. Anyways, they piss me off."

"By the way," Bella shifted the conversation, seeing that Jacob was becoming angrier, "Isn't Sam a little too old for this kind of thing?"

"Yeah," Jacob answered. "He was supposed to go to college, but he stayed. And no one gave him any crap about it, either. The whole council pitched a fit when my sister turned down a partial scholarship and got married. But, oh no, Sam Uley can do no wrong."

"Hey, Jake. Why are you taking this so personally?" Bella suddenly asked, curiosity evident in her voice.

Jacob, though, didn't answer; he turned the car, stopping on the side of the road. He got out from the car, leaving Bella and Lisa there, to stare at each other with confusion. Whatever had happened between Jacob and Sam Uley, the boy obviously hadn't gotten over it.

Suddenly, a thought dawned on Lisa, making her eyes slightly widen and her stomach drop. What if Jake had the genes? What if he, too, became a wolf? What would happen if that were to happen? Would they continue to be friends, or he would hunt her down until the end of Forks with Sam Uley's pack?

"Lis, are you coming?" she looked over at Bella, who had gotten out of the car by the driver's side, and was staring at her with her eyebrows quirked.

Lisa sent her a weak smile, not feeling in the mood to do anything anymore. She got out of the car, though, eyeing Jake with the bikes already parked side by side. She watched silently as he called Bella over, helping her to get up on the bike and teaching her the basics. Bella was obviously nervous, her hands slightly shaking, her heart beating loudly on her chest, though she was determined to do that. Lisa sat on the back of the truck, desperately taking a cigarette out of her pocked and lightening it. The smoke relaxed her a little, though on the back of her mind, all that she could think about was the fact that Jake, the boy who had become her close friend over the past month, could be a wolf. They would most probably be enemies, then, and he would hate her, just like he hated Sam Uley.

She would have to leave, run away once again, with no idea to where she would go. She would be alone again, and this time it would be worse because she had gotten used to having people around; Bella, Jake, Quil, Embry, even Charlie and Billy.

 _Damn it,_ she thought, biting on her lip to stop the tears from coming. Why couldn't she have a shot at being happy?

She took another cigarette, lightening it and putting the stick besides her lips. She watched Jake and Bella talking not far off from her, and she could hear everything clearly.

"You know, the council is supposed to be made up of equals, but if there was a leader, it  
would be my dad. I've never been able to figure out why people treat him the way they do. Why his opinion counts the most. It's got something to do with his father and his father's father. My great-grandpa, Ephraim Black, was sort of the last chief we had, and they still listen to Billy, maybe because of that." He told the brunette, exasperated. "But I'm just like everyone else. Nobody treats _me_ special… until now."

Lisa's breath caught in her throat.

"Sam threats you special?" Bella wondered, frowning.

"Yeah, he looks at me like he's waiting for something… like I'm going to join his stupid gang someday. He pays more attention to me than any of the other guys. I hate it."

She sucked on her breath, taking yet another cigarette from the package.

 _He is one._ Her mind screamed at her, and she wanted to run fast out of there, feeling her breath stuck, her heart beating fast, hands shaking. _Fuck! Jacob has the genes,_ she felt like crying, not believing in her incredible lack of luck.

Karma is _truly_ a bitch.

The rest of the day passed in a blur to Lisa. She didn't talk much, only listening to an oblivious Jake talking about the fact that _Embry_ was treating him different, avoiding him like he had the plague, acting all strange, before joining Sam's _gang_. The boy was confused, lost, almost, not knowing what was going on within his own tribe. That spoke loudly to Lisa, and she understood that they were different from her, though they were also shifters. It was clear to her that the wolves in that tribe turned only when they were at the highest point of the puberty. They weren't born with it, she realized, like herself. She was born a wolf, not human. She was born wearing her fur, with her red eyes closed, and she _fed_ on her mother like hers brothers. She only shifted to a human baby after she was weeks old.

Also, based on what Jacob had told, Sam Uley's pack was small, which meant not all Quileute boys were able to shift. Maybe it was a family thing, passed by blood from generations to generations.

 _What made them turn, though?_

She watched as Bella hugged Jacob, feeling bad about him. She hoped he would be happy when he turned; that he would feel free, strong, like she felt when she shifted. Above all, though, she hoped he wouldn't shut her out. She prayed to god he wouldn't do it. She loved Jake, she didn't want to lose him.

At the end of the day, after Bella fell down, cutting her forehead and bleeding, Lisa packed the bikes while Jake was helping Bella stop the bleeding, they decided to go to Lisa's house so Charlie wouldn't notice that Bella had a freaking _huge_ cut on her forehead. Both Lisa and Jake sighed at Bella's stubbornness, but they did as she asked, anyway.

"Lemme see," Lisa asked, using the light on her bathroom to watch the cut, seeing it wasn't deep. "You bleed easy," she pointed out, taking her first aid kit from the counter.

"Yeah, it hurts, though," she muttered, making Lisa roll her eyes at her.

Meanwhile, Jacob stared at them still unsure if it was okay for Bella to not go to a hospital. Lisa washed the cut and Bella's face, disinfected it and put some medicine to stop the bleeding. She noticed Bella taking small, deep breaths through her mouth, like she didn't want to smell the blood coming out of her.

"Ok, all done." She nodded to her good work. "You need to change your clothes, though."

Bella had her shirt all bloodied, like she was in a damn horror movie. Lisa shook her head, going to her bedroom and taking a clean change of clothes for her. She tried to take the smallest shirt she had, since Bella was way shorted and thinner than her, and hand it in to the brunette.

"Thanks, Lis. You're my life savior,"

"Hey, what about me?" Jacob scoffed indignantly. Lisa rolled her eyes at him, while Bella just bit her lip to stop laughing.

"Go change, Bella." The blonde ordered, and Bella instantly comply, closing the bathroom door. "Do want something to eat?"

"Sure," Jake answered, and they went to Lisa's small kitchen. She took some ingredients to prepare a sandwich for them, as did it in silence, while Jacob analyzer her. "Are you ok, Lis?" he suddenly asked, breaking the uncommon silence.

She smiled, feeling the worry in his voice. "Yea, just worried about Bella, is all." It wasn't a complete lie, since she was worried about her friend and the fact that she would kill herself one of those days, but she was also with a lot in her mind.

The piece of information she had received that day about the wolves had left an uneasy feeling in her. She didn't know what to do.

Jacob sighed, shaking his head. "Sometimes I feel like she does it on purpose,"

Lisa frowned, not understanding. "Do what?"

Jake's voice was low when he answered her. "Hurt herself,"

They stayed quiet for a moment, Lisa clearly hearing whatever Bella was doing in the bathroom and Jacob's steady heartbeat.

"I know," she finally told him, and Jacob's eyes shot to her face. "We just have to _watch_ her, y'know. Make sure she doesn't die until she doesn't feel like doing stupid things anymore."

He chuckled humorlessly, "This was all that Cullen's fault. Bella wasn't like that before."

Lisa shook her head, sighing. "I guess. I honestly hope this guy never comes back." She said honestly, and Jacob nodded in agreement. "If he does, I'll certainly kick him in the balls for what he's done."

"I'll help ya," they look at each other before laughing.

Bella showed up and stared at them, an eyebrow quirked. "What are you hyenas laughing about?"

Jake and Lisa exchanged an accomplice look before Lisa shrugged. "We were just remembering you falling down like a rotten banana, is all,"

"Hey!" Bella exclaimed indignantly, while Lisa and Jacob started laughing again. "Not cool, assholes."

After that, they all relaxed again, chatting amicably and eating the sandwiches Lisa had prepared.


	8. Chapter VII

On Saturday, the three musketeers, as they were calling themselves, decided to go hiking around the woods and make a picnic on the meadow Bella had taken Lisa to once; the day was good to a hike, and all of them were pretty happy to go. First they stopped in La Push, to take Jake and his huge map – which was totally unnecessary, but they let him have his way -, and then they were off to the woods.

Every few minutes Jake would check the compass, see if they were going in the right direction, while Lisa and Bella waited patiently. The boy was in a very good mood that day, whistling cheerfully, walking around like he was the little red riding hood, without the basket full of food and the wolf; Lisa could have laughed with the irony of all that, but just smiled instead.

"Hey, Jake,"

"Yeah?"

"How are things with…Embry? Is he back to normal again?" Bella, usually curious about everything surrounding her, asked the boy. The cool atmosphere changed, and Lisa wanted to slap Bella for that.

She still hadn't gotten over the fact that Jacob might shift in to a wolf anytime soon, and join Sam's pack. She didn't know what would happen to their friendship, then, and after staying up all night wondering and torturing herself with the unknown, she decided to put her worries in the back of her mind so she wouldn't have a mental breakdown.

Jacob stayed silent for a moment, walking around the woods skillfully.

"No. He's not back to normal," he finally answered, his eyes downcast and his lips pulled downwards. He was sad, obviously, for losing one of his closest friends and not even understanding _why_.

"Still with Sam."

"Yup,"

He came closer to them, pulling his arms around their shoulders as if he didn't want them to go. That made Lisa's heart swollen with affection towards the lost boy. She wanted to scream at him that she didn't want to lose him either.

"Are they still looking at you funny?" Bella continued questioning.

"Sometimes,"

"And Billy?"

Jacob, then, sighed. "As helpful as ever,"

"Our couch is always open, you know." Bella offered, and Lisa smirked.

"But think of the position that would put Charlie in—when Billy calls the police to report my kidnapping."

They all laughed, shifting the atmosphere once more.

Hours passed by, and the group still didn't reach the meadows. Lisa was getting upset, since she knew the way by her sense of _smell_ , but the other two didn't want to listen to her. So they ended up _not_ finding the place at all. Since it was getting dark, they decided to go back to Bella's truck, each of them eating the sandwiches they had packed.

"Tomorrow we can come again," Jacob said with his mouth full of sandwich. Bella nodded instantly.

"Sure! That's a good idea,"

"And maybe you can listen to me for a change," Lisa shot, also taking a huge bite from her own sandwich.

"Oh, so sorry, Miss know-it-all." Jacob retorted sarcastically.

"Apologies declined, Mr. Know-nothing-at-all." They stared at each other defiantly before bursting into laughter.

"You know, I hope we see the bear everyone's talking about tomorrow," Jacob confessed after some time, "I'm sort of disappointed about that."

"Yeah, me, too." Bella answered sarcastically, "Maybe we'll _get_ lucky tomorrow and something will eat us!"

"Bears don't want to eat people. We don't taste that good." Jacob grinned. "Of  
course, you _might_ be an exception. I bet you'd taste good." He looked back at Lisa, scrunching his nose in disgust. "You not so much,"

"Douche bag," was the blonde's response while Bella just thanked him and looked away, the faraway look in her eyes once again.

After a couple more minutes, they finally found the road and Bella's red truck parked there. They got into it, Jacob driving, and went back to La Push. There, they suddenly decided that they could stay at Lisa's place, watch a movie and have a sleepover, since the next day they would go looking for the meadow once again. Jacob, then, grabbed some clothes, Bella called Charlie to tell him about their plans, and they all went back to Lisa's small and cozy home.

It wasn't the first time they stayed there together; it was, though, the first time they would all sleep there – usually only Bella stayed. Lisa was happy, seeing her friends all comfortable like the house was theirs; she watched, from the kitchen, the way Jacob smiled at Bella, his eyes sparkling with utter adoration; she had started noticing he wasn't the only one. Bella's eyes also changed when she looked at Jake. It seemed like she didn't see it, but she was slowly, but surely, starting to have a crush on the boy. Seeing their interaction, Lisa was delighted. Jacob was a great kid, and they actually matched. She hoped her friend would see that, too.

She took her time making the popcorn, keeping an eye on the oblivious couple. When the popcorn was finally done, she took the bowl, the cans of soda and went back to the living room.

"So, what are we watching?"

"I brought this," Jacob showed the action movie involving cars, and Bella beamed with excitement.

"That's what I'm talking about," she said, making Lisa and Jacob chuckle.

"I think you're walking too much with us," Jake said, shaking his head in amusement. Lisa agreed.

They put the film and started watching it, eating popcorn and joking about some of the impossible to happen scenes.

The evening passed by quickly, and the trio ended up watching two more films – another action one and one horror -, when they decided that was enough and that they had to sleep. They had put all mattresses Lisa had on the floor, to watch the movies in a more comfortable position, and there they decided they would stay. The first one to go was Bella, sleeping soundly while Jacob and Lisa talked quietly amongst themselves. That was the perfect opportunity to talk to Jake, Lisa realized, and she shifted the subject suddenly.

"You like her, right?" she asked quietly, sending a look toward Bella's sleeping form. She was curled around a pillow, her legs pulled close to her and mouth gaping open; there was even a little drool coming out of her mouth.

Jacob didn't even deny. It was obvious. "You noticed, hm."

Lisa rolled her eyes. "Of course I did. You keep staring at her with that silly smile,"

The first time ever Jacob looked embarrassed, his skin flushing slightly. "Do you think she knows?"

"Honestly? I have no idea," she shrugged, eyeing her friend. "Bella is very perceptive, though. So I'd say yes,"

"Geez," he shook his head, giving a humorless chuckle. "Well, it's not like I have a shot, anyway. She's still hooked on that paled faced Cullen." Lisa laughed at his description. "Seriously, I hate that guy."

"He's not here anymore, though, is he?" she quirked her eyebrow. "And I don't think he's coming back any soon."

"Do you think…" he gulped, before continuing. "Do you think I should try? I mean, don't you think it's dangerous for our friendship?"

"I don't know, Jake." She offered truthfully. "But I also think giving up is for the weak. Maybe give her a little more time, she's still healing, you know." He nodded, biting his lip. "If it counts for anything, I totally ship you guys,"

At this, he laughed, putting his hand over his mouth. They eyed Bella to see if she had heard, but she was still dead. "Thanks, Lis. You know what? I was kinda shipping you and Embry, too. He liked you, you know."

Suddenly, Lisa remembered the fact that Embry had probably shifted now, and if they met, he would smell her. He would know what she was.

"He was cute," she said sheepishly. "Not my type, though."

"That's too bad," he muttered, looking all sad. "I miss him."

Lisa's eyes softened and she put her arm around his shoulder, trying to comfort him a little. "Maybe he'll come around again," she offered, but in the back of her mind she thought that Jacob would be the one to go after Embry.

"I hope so." Jacob whispered, his hairy head falling on Lisa's shoulder. They stayed like that for some time, enjoying each other's' company in comfortable silence until Jake started drifting off and Lisa told him to sleep. Then she laid down on her little couch, staring at the ceiling in the darkness. She could listen to the beating of her friends' hearts, and that comforted her.

She was not alone anymore.

* * *

The days turned into weeks, and the weeks into month. Lisa was more than used to her life by now, and her friendship with Jacob and Bella had grown stronger by the day. They would see each other almost every day, if not to do the homework, to go riding their bikes, to just goof around, go hiking, or sleep over someone's house. At that point, they all new pretty much all there was to know about one another – well, at least almost everything. Lisa had realized that all her friends had their own secrets, as she herself did as well. It didn't bother her, though, because in her heart she felt like one day all would come out. Even her own dark, little secret.

Also, as the weeks passed by, she realized Jacob was becoming more _irritable_ , and she knew that his change was about to happen any day now. He also complained about Sam trying to get closer to him. Embry, too, tried. Jake wouldn't budge, though. He was as stubborn as a mule, and still disliked Sam with all his might. Lisa knew, however, that as soon as he shifted, he would be part of Sam's pack. It's just how it was. Wolves had to be in packs, it was in their nature. When she left hers, it was like a part of her was taken from her. The bond was strong, tied by blood, and leaving wasn't easy.

As for Bella, she was getting better by the day. She wasn't having the bad dreams as often as she had, and, according to Charlie, thanks to Jake and herself, Bella had been happier. However, Lisa knew she still though about _goddamn_ Edward. It wasn't normal, and she should have gotten over him after so long. She didn't, though. Lisa could see in her eyes, when she stared at nothing, memories invading her mind. She had gotten used to it by now, and usually she would just get her attention again. Whenever Bella came back from these moments, though, she wasn't the same. She got sad, distant, it was unbearable to watch and not be able to do anything.

She realized, though, with some hope, that Bella was getting closer to Jake. She could hear, sometimes, the girl's heartbeat increasing when he was _too_ close to her, and that was nice to know. She hoped she'd be able to move on with him eventually. Jake, on the other hand, was barely hiding his affection towards her; he gave her little tips, longing looks and touched her more often, too. One day, he even got bold enough to give her a Valentine's Day present.

Bella and Lisa had just pulled over in front of his house, for one more of their homework parties, when he gave her the little pink box. The girl, though, didn't even know it was valentine's day, and just stared at him in confusion. Lisa wanted to kick his balls for the move, but she just decided to head over the house, to greet Billy. Her ear, though, was still glued to the pair, and she could hear Jacob asking Bella to be his Valentine.

To say Bella was uncomfortable was an understatement. Lisa sighed, shaking her head.

"What's up, Billy?" she asked the old man, smiling. He smiled brightly, nodding his head.

"All good, Lis. All good."

After a few minutes, Jacob and Bella finally entered the house, and by their looks, things had gotten _awkward._ Lisa sent Jacob a pointed look, internally calling him an idiot for not waiting a little more.

"So Lis, I was inventing Jake and Quil to go to the movies with us on Friday." Bella sent Lisa a pleading look for her just to follow the lie.

"Aren't they too young?" she smirked when Jacob glared daggers at her. "They might get scared,"

"I don't get scared easily after seeing your ugly mug every day." Jake retorted sarcastically.

"Ouch, that hurt, Jacob Black." She rolled her eyes, following them to the boy's small room.

Unfortunately, Bella didn't invite only Jake and Quil – that would've been too good. She had to invite the guys from school, too, people Lisa didn't quite like, well, except for Angela, she was okay. The others, though, were all noisy and annoying. Mike had a huge crush for Bella, and tried _too_ hard to get her attention when she obviously wasn't into him. Jessica and Lauren were her least favorites, with their gossiping way and arrogant behavior. As for the others, she really didn't care about them.

Thank god that on the day, people either got sick or came up with another excuse not to go. In the end, only Jacob, Bella, Lisa and Mike showed up – Lisa was mad that it looked like a double freaking date -, even Quil couldn't come because he was grounded for fighting at school. They bought the tickets for the movie, _Crosshairs_ , bought some food – or a lot, in Jacob and Lisa's case -, and then they entered the theater. Lisa rolled her eyes in annoyance when Jacob and Mike took seats right next to Bella, which made her sit next to Mike since Jake's left side was already taken.

The movie was ridiculous, to say the least. People were dying like flies, of all different kinds of death possible – there was even one guy that was shredded by lawn-mower, his blood gushing all over. Lisa didn't enjoy that kind of movie, to be honest, she wasn't really a cinema movie – of all arts, her favorite was music. What entertained her, though, was seeing Mike squirming on his seat, trying his hardest not to puke from disgust. She chuckled, eyeing him staring wide-eyed to the guy's head being chopped off.

Lisa curved her body, catching her friends' attention.

"I bet he'll fall down and his head will burst from the fall," she told them quietly, making Jacob chuckle, and Bella snicker. Mike just looked about to pass out.

In the middle of the movie, the blond boy stood up abruptly, and bolted to the door. Bella watched him with wide eyes and stood to go after him. Jacob did the same, going after Bella, and Lisa, realizing that she was alone, decided to do the same. Her popcorn was over, anyway.

When she got to the hallway, she saw only Bella standing there, a worried expression on her face.

"What happened?" Lisa asked, not really interested to know.

"Mike isn't feeling well; I guess the movie was too much for him."

Lisa scoffed, rolling her eyes, muttering under her breath. "What a pussy,"

"Lis!" Bella berated. A couple minutes later, Jacob came out of the bathroom, looking annoyed.

"He's in there, all right," he told Bella, rolling his eyes. "What a marshmallow. You should hold out for someone with a stronger stomach. Someone who laughs at the gore that makes weaker men vomit."

Lisa snickered, agreeing. "Yeah, Bella. Next time, we come alone,"

"Funny," Jacob snapped, going to sit on a bench against the wall. He _wasn't_ happy. "He sounded like he was going to be in there for a while,"

The friends shared a look before sitting next to Jacob. As soon as Bella sat down, Jake snaked his arm around her shoulder. Suddenly, Lisa felt like she was intruding, and that maybe she shouldn't have come.

"I'm going to buy some more popcorn," she didn't even wait for their answer before standing up and going quickly towards the snack bar. Giving a glance over her shoulder, she saw Jacob leaning in closer to Bella.

She didn't know why, but she felt in her gut that that wasn't a good idea. Bella wasn't ready, and Jake was getting anxious. Not to mention the boy would most probably turn into a mythical creature any day now, and then how would their relationship work? Would he tell Bella the truth?

"A big one, please." She asked the girl from the snack bar, and soon she had her popcorn.

When she was returning, she saw Jacob coming in her direction.

"Where you going?"

"Grab a bucket for marshmallow," she snickered, nodding.

Sure enough, Mike looked like he was about to puke his organs out. He had that sick color on his face, sweating coating his forehead. His smell was also terrible, pungent, which meant he had already puked in the bathroom.

When Jacob came back, they all went outside so Mike could get some air. He inhaled deeply, trying to control himself. Then, Jacob helped Bella put him in Jacob's Rabbit. Lisa wanted to cry when she realized she would have to go at the back of the car with the sick boy. They all opened their windows, so that he could get some air. The whole way he groaned, complaining about his stomach. Bella glanced at him at times, worry lacing her features, and every time she did, Jake's hand pressed the wheel tighter.

After a long trip, with Mike puking on the bucket, making the car smell like vomit, they finally dropped him at his place; the next one was Bella, since Jacob lived nearer to Lisa's place. He got out of the car and opened the door for her, helping her to climb out like a boy would do _after_ a date. Again, Lisa felt uncomfortable. She tried to focus on the bowl full of popcorn – she didn't finish because of Mike's puking the whole day -, and she also tried very hard not to listen, but that was difficult not to.

 _"_ _I would invite myself in, since we're early,"_ Jacob told Bella, " _But I think you might be right about the fever. I'm starting to feel a little… strange."_

That made Lisa snap her head, listening closely.

" _Oh, no. Do you want us to drive you home?"_

 _"No."_ He shook his head, _"I don't feel sick yet. Just… wrong. If I have to, I'll pull over."_

 _"Let Lisa drive, then."_

 _"Maybe I'll."_ He nodded.

 _"Call me as soon as you get home, okay?"_ Bella pleaded, and he agreed.

Lisa stepped over the passenger's seat, biting her lip nervously when Jacob entered the car. He looked over at her briefly, before sighing. Bella stood there, waiting for them to leave. He started the car and soon they were leaving the Swan's yard.

The ride started silent, with both friends lost in their own thoughts. Lisa eventually glanced over to Jacob, to make sure he was...fine. She knew what was happening. His sweat pouring on his head and the rest of his head _smelled_. It wasn't the sour smell that usually came out of the humans. No, Jake smelled of a dog. Of a wolf.

"You're silent today," she snapped her head when he spoke, his eyes distant.

"Yeah, many things happened, I guess." She whispered, looking outside to the woods. "How are you feeling?"

He sighed, "I don't know. My body is heavy, and I'm hot…it's like I have the flu or something."

"I see," Lisa knew it wasn't the flu. God, she had been thinking about this day ever since she saw Sam Uley's wolf pack jumping off the cliff and Jacob told the story of Sam bugging him.

It wouldn't take long now, she knew. The process of shifting was difficult; his body would go through painful changes, as well as his temper. In the end, he will know that everything he always thought he knew were lies, and that below the surface of the world, there were a lot of weird things going on. Hell, she was one of the weird things.

She bit her lip, feeling sad. All those worries about the way he would react to her came flooding back. She didn't want to lose Jacob. She really didn't.

"Hey, Jake." She called when they entered her street.

"Yes?"

She took a deep breath before answering. "Don't be…a stranger, ok? And don't worry, everything will be alright."

"Why are you being all weird? I'm not dying, y'know." He smirked, being, for a moment, his usual self. Lisa rolled her eyes.

"You'll understand." She told him, opening the door. "Don't forget it, though. You're one of my closest friends, and I'm here for whatever you need."

This time, he smiled softly, nodding. "You too, Lis. Don't worry; I'll never stop hanging out with you girls."

"Ok." She didn't believe his words, but smiled anyway. "See you around."

"See you,"

After he sped off on the road, she couldn't shake the feeling that something bad was about to happen. For that reason, she did something that she hadn't done ever since she had moved to Forks. She took out her clothes, went into the forest surrounding her house, and shifted.

* * *

After that day on the movies, things changed drastically. Jacob was "sick", according to Bella – she had tried to call the Black's over and over, until Harry Clearwater told her the boy had mono. Lisa knew it was a lie; she remembered clearly the day she shifted, her senses enhanced ten times than when she was in human form, she smelled him. The wolf in him was coming out. The hormones were changing, the body was expanding, his mind was probably going crazy by now. It wasn't easy. She felt worried about him, and wanted to visit just as much as Bella, but she also knew she couldn't. At least not _yet._

Bella, though, was set to visit him at any costs. The girl had spent days at Lisa's house, going to her house only to take an extra change of clothes. The blonde didn't mind, she knew Bella was doing it because she missed Jacob, and didn't want to be alone. She _understood_ the brunette, and wanted to help. However, Jacob was all that Bella could talk about, she was obsessed with him. It worried Lisa that she was replacing her former lover for Jacob. It wasn't healthy at all.

On Saturday, she had decided to go to La Push. Lisa, though, worried that she wouldn't be welcome there, tried to change her mind. Bella wouldn't bulge, though, stubborn as she was.

"At least call them first, Bells. It's not polite to show up uninvited,"

"Ok," she huffed, taking her cellphone and dialing the number. "If they don't answer, though, I'll sure…Oh, Hey, the phone is working again! Hi, Billy. It's Bella. I was just calling to see how Jacob is doing. Is he up for visitors yet? I was thinking about dropping by—" she stopped, probably listening to what Billy was telling her. "Oh, so he's feeling better then?"

She sent Lisa a look, and the blonde shrugged, not knowing what to say, really.

"Oh, so, where is he? Well, that's a relief. I've been so worried. I'm glad he felt good enough to get out." Bella's face fell when she said that, making Lisa feel terribly bad. "No, not really. Bye."

She turned off the phone, staring at the electronic with such sadness in her eyes that Lisa stood up and hugged her.

"What's wrong, Bells?" she asked, worried.

"Nothing, really." She shook her head, giving a humorless chuckle. "He is actually well. Well enough to go out with his... _friends,_ " she spat, obviously hurt.

"Bells, relax, ok? He's probably just forgotten to call us," she tried, though both knew it wasn't true.

"Whatever," Bella threw herself on the couch, covering her face with a cushion, "who needs him anyway?"

Lisa sighed sadly, wondering if Jake was ok, and how he was handling everything. She wished she could talk to him, help him go through the change.

"Hey, it's Saturday." Bella suddenly said, standing up. "It's hiking day!"

Lisa knew exactly what she was doing. Bella had the tendency of flying away from her problems by putting her mind over other things. The blonde didn't judge her, it was only her way to cope with her emotions, and that was ok. So she nodded, standing up. She wouldn't let Bella mop around again. Not this time.

"Ok, let's go."

Bella sent her a smile that didn't not reach her eyes, but at least she was trying. They got ready, putting their boots, taking some sandwiches, and after thirty minutes, they were speeding towards their usual spot. The ride had been silent, neither bothering to fill in with unnecessary chat. They were comfortable in silence. The day was dry, though cloudy like always, but at least there were no prediction of rain.

They pulled out of the car, entering the known woods, Lisa ahead since her sense of direction was better than Bella's. The forest was full of sounds, which comforted Lisa slightly. She was still feeling bad about Jacob, Bella and herself. And she knew Bella was down in the dumps, too. The hike was silent, with only the casual yelps Bella gave whenever she tripped. Finally, after hours walking around, they got to the place they always tried to find but never could – Lisa had known how to get there all along, and she guided Bella that day.

The brunette snorted, not really believing that they had found it again.

"Jacob really doesn't know his way," she commented, and Lisa shrugged.

"I told you I could get here again."

They stood there watching the way the grass moved with the wind, the fresh smell hitting their noses. Lisa decided to sit down and enjoy the peace and quiet. It was nice to feel the earth under her, the wind on her face, making her hair all messy. Bella did the same, sitting quietly next to her friend, staring at the place.

Minutes passed by and the girls didn't move. They would have stayed like that for a very long time if Lisa's ear hadn't perked a sound coming from the edge of the woods. Her eyes, which had been closed, snapped open, her senses all active. She felt her instincts flare, the wolf inside her growling. Dark eyes regarded the woods with precision, and soon enough she found something.

She stood up fast, the hair on her arms standing when the smell hit her.

She was shocked.

It was a _vampire_. A bloody vampire. It had been years since she had last seen one, and then there was one; in goddamn Forks, of all places.

He came out of his hiding place, slowly, eyeing her with curiosity before his blood red eyes passed over to Bella. Then, he smiled.

"Bella, we have to go," she told her friend, who was still sitting with her eyes closed, enjoying the warmth coming from the rays of sun. Brown eyes stared at her, not understanding. "We have company," Lisa told her.

Bella looked around, finally spotting the motionless figure. She also stood up fast, her eyes and mouth wide.

"Laurent!" she cried in surprise. Lisa stared at her with confusion.

"You _know_ him?" she almost growled, her eyes shifting back to the man. He was black, though his skin was pale, and he had the terrible sweet smell that all vampires had.

"Bella?" his voice sounded loudly in the silent meadow.

"You remember," Bella seemed dazed, smiling like that to a freaking vampire! Lisa was outraged.

"I didn't expect to see you here," he started walking towards them, and Lisa instantly stood in front of Bella. She didn't know if the girl knew who that man was, better, what that man was or not, but she wouldn't take any chances. His voice was annoyingly melodious.

"Isn't it the other way around? I do live here. I thought you'd gone to Alaska."

"Bella, what the hell?" Lisa looked at her friend again, a look of disbelief on her features. "Do you _know_ what he is?" she almost spat, the anger getting the better of her.

"I do," Bella muttered, surprised that Lisa knew, too. "Do you?"

"Of course," Lisa's dark eyes went to the vampire again, her fists closing tightly. "He is a fucking _bloodsucker_!"

Laurent's laughter gave her the chills. It wasn't natural, it wasn't real.

"Does she know what _you_ are, my dear?" he asked, his eyes never leaving Lisa's defensive form.

"What do you mean?" Bella asked, confused.

"Bella, listen to me," Lisa ignored her question. "We have to go. _Now._ "

"Well, that isn't very polite of you, is it? After all, I'm only an old friend."

"I bet you are," this time, she groaned, startling Bella beside her. She took her friend's arm, turning her around. "Let's go."

They never left. Suddenly, Laurent was there, right in front of them, startling them both. Once again, Lisa put Bella behind her.

"I went to the Cullen's place and found it empty," he said, smiling and showing his razor sharp teeth, wet with his poisonous venom. "I guess they left. But I'm a little surprised that they left you here, _unattended,_ that is. Weren't you with Edward?"

Lisa stiffened, trying to ratiocinate.

 _What the hell is going on here?_

"Actually, they didn't leave me unattended." The human lied, shaking up a little under Lisa's touch. Her heart was beating loudly in her chest like that of a bird. "They visit all the time. I'll even tell Carlisle that you stopped by. I probably shouldn't mention it to… Edward, I suppose, he has such a temper… well, I'm sure you remember. He's still touchy about the whole James thing."

Suddenly it dawned on Lisa what Bella meant.

Edward.

He was a vampire. He was a freaking bloodsucker, and Bella knew all along. It felt like a slap on Lisa's face. Not that Bella didn't tell her that secret, but that her best friend actually dated a vampire for months and lived to tell the story.

She couldn't believe it.

"Is he really?" the vampire asked, not really buying what Bella was saying. She had always been a terrible liar.

"Mhm," Bella nodded, before babbling again, sounding more nervous than she should have. "So how are things working out in Denali? Carlisle said you were staying with Tanya?"

"I like Tanya very much," he mused. "And her sister Irina even more… I've never stayed in one place for so long before, and I enjoy the advantages, the novelty of it. But, the restrictions are difficult… I'm surprised that any of them can keep it up for long." Then he smiled. "Sometimes I cheat,"

That was it for Lisa. She knew he was going to do something, and she wouldn't stay there listening to him talking. She stepped in front of him, staring him straight into his red eyes. She wasn't afraid of him. She was taller than him, and she knew that the fact that he could smell her blood, smell _her_ made him slightly threatened.

"We're leaving." She said through her teeth. "Back the hell _off,"_

He smiled once more. "Oh, but I can't. I made a deal with someone for that one there," he pointed his head towards a shocked Bella, "Victoria, you know, won't be happy about me killing you. She wants your head, mate for mate, so she sent me in to survey the field." He shook his shoulders nonchalantly. "I suppose she'll be angry, anyway."

It all happened too fast after that. His smile widened before he extended his hand and slapped Lisa to the side; she instantly turned into a wolf, still in the air, blowing away all her clothes and shoes. Bella shrieked, not believing in her eyes, but Laurent knew that would happen. He came to her as soon as she landed on her four feet, her long, sharp teeth bared in his direction. They crashed midway, Lisa's wolf form standing taller than Laurent, while her teeth tried to snap at his neck; his arms surrounded her, though, trying to crush her but failing when she managed to get free. He pulled one of her paws, though, snapping it cruelly. She cried out, scrambling to her feet, the broken paw not touching the floor.

"Alone you can't fight me, _dog,_ " Laurent snarled, before jumping over her again, trying to sink his teeth into her. She struggled with him, he was stronger than her, and she couldn't get to his head.

She was damned, she knew, but at least Bella would be able to escape.

Lisa's red eyes looked over to where the human had been, her stomach sinking when she saw that she was still there, staring with shock at the fight between her best friend and a vampire.

 _Run, Bella,_ Lisa pleaded mentally, _Please, just go!_

The brunette never left, though. And Laurent's arms surrounded Lisa once again, snapping her out of her daze. She growled in anger, finding a way of biting one of his arms and tearing it off from his body with all the force she had. Breaking a vampire wasn't easy, they were far too strong. The member flew from her mouth, while Laurent cried out.

"Bitch!" he growled, hitting her with his good arm. She fell on the ground with the force, and didn't get the chance to get up before he sank his teeth on one of her legs. She instantly howled, feeling his venom entering her body and burning it like liquid fire. She cried, changing back into her human form, unable to maintain herself anymore.

Tick tears fell down her face while her screams bubbled in her throat.

Laurent was about to finish her out, and she bit her lip to stop the painful screams coming from her. She wouldn't give him the pleasure of seeing her suffer.

"F-fuck you," she spat, more tears falling down her face.

He grabbed her by the throat, smiling once again with her blood smeared over his teeth. Before he could do anything, though, his eyes snapped towards the edge of the woods. One second later, a pack of wolves appeared, a huge, black one being in the front.

"I don't believe it," he said, his voice low and full with disbelief.

He instantly retreated, leaving Lisa's body on the floor. Two more wolves appeared, and then two more. They formed a V line, looking straight at Laurent.

Lisa sighed in relief, knowing it was Sam's pack. Bella, though, gasped.

In a second, Laurent was running away, but he didn't get the chance to escape. He wouldn't have. Not with five wolves after him _and_ without one arm. Lisa closed her eyes, happy that at least he would be killed. The venom inside her body burned too much, and it felt like she would die at any moment. Bella appeared over her, eyes wide and tearing up.

"Oh, god, Lis. Oh god. I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry." She repeated over and over again, her hands shaking like leaves against the wind. A couple of tears fell down her face, and she sobbed.

Lisa didn't find the strength to answer her friend. She was burning from inside out, melting away, but she didn't want to go. Far off, she could hear the sounds of a fight.

"We have to go somewhere…" Bella sobbed again, "Shit, I don't know what to do. Shit. Shit!"

Lisa's eyes stared at the sky, trying to focus on not passing out, Bella's pleading only a background sound at the moment.

"Bella!" the brunette's eyes snapped towards the one and only Jacob Black. His hair was shorter, now, and he had a tattoo on one of his arms; he was wearing only a pair of old shorts and no shirt, even if the weather was as cold as it could get. He came running in their direction, his eyes wide and heart beating wildly. "Shit, she was bitten. Sam, she was bitten!" he yelled, taking Lisa's head on his lap and seeing the huge bite mark on her left leg, besides the awkward angle her hand was in.

Out of the blue, the guy Jacob called, the leader of the pack, Sam Uley, came striding towards Lisa. He was also wearing only a pair of shorts, his face serious. Bella was so shocked with the fact that _she_ was a wolf that she didn't realize that Jacob and Sam were wolves too.

"We gotta take her to the rez. Can you carry her?" Jacob nodded, taking Lisa's body on his arms carefully. "Go there as fast as you can. We'll meet you there."

"We have the car," Bella suddenly spoke, and they went running in the direction the car was usually parked.

It was a painful stride; Lisa closed her eyes and tried not to focus on the burning sensation, tears leaving her eyes while she resisted the urge to yell profanities at anyone.


	9. Chapter VIII

Two days passed before Lisa was finally ridden of the burning sensation the vampire's venom brought to her wolf body. Those two days that felt like hell to her; the venom burned, making it impossible for her to sleep, to eat, or do anything other than groan and grind her teeth together. Besides, it slowed her healing ability, so her broken wrist also hurt painfully.

She stayed in Jacob's house with Billy attending to her, and Jacob watching over her. Sam would go there sometimes, to see if she was getting any better. She felt grateful towards them, for accepting her when they could've just thrown her away somewhere or worse, let Laurent finish her. They didn't, though, and that spoke volumes of what kind of pack they were.

After the pain went away, she slowly sat down on the bed, her head slightly dizzy, and she felt like she had just ran a marathon under the scalding sun without drinking any water _for days_. She felt _terribly_ tired, her body trying to fight off the venom for two days nonstop and finally winning.

"Hey, look who's up." She smiled at Jake, who had come as soon as he heard her standing up. The boy had gotten taller, she noticed, broader, his boyish face lost.

"Hey, Jake." Her voice was coarse, her throat hurting after so many groans. "It's over, finally."

"That's good," he smiled, genuinely happy that his friend was up and about again. It had worried everyone that she wouldn't recover from the venom; it was the first time a wolf had been bitten, so they didn't know what was going to happen. "Are you hungry?"

"Starving," she nodded, her stomach growling loudly. "Please gimme some fat,"

Jacob laughed, and the sound made her heart warm. "Coming,"

After he left, Billy entered the room on his wheel chair, looking over at her with a solemn expression. His dark eyes were intense, so similar to Jake's yet also different. Jacob always had a softness and warmth in his eyes, whilst Billy was more guarded and mysterious. She liked the old man, though. Especially after he let her stay there at his home.

"It's nice to see you feeling well again, Lisa." He said honestly, and she smiled, nodding.

"Thanks for taking care of me," _when you could've left me to die,_ she thought ruefully. The old man nodded, squaring his shoulders a little before speaking again. "I get by your look that you have questions."

"Yes, many," He answered. "But we can wait you get on your feet again. We'll do a council meeting with the pack and the elders. You can rest, eat, freshen up, and then we talk."

"Ok," she felt suddenly nervous. Looking down to her hands, she saw her swollen wrist, which had been broken but put back in place so it wouldn't heal in a weird way.

"You're not an enemy, Lisa." She stared at Billy again, her eyes wide. "It was a surprise, of course, but we don't think badly of you. You saved Bella, she could've died if it weren't for you. And I know it wasn't an easy option, to expose yourself, that is."

Her throat constricted, but before she could say anything, Jacob came back with a tray full of food; she almost drooled, eyes focused on the juicy hamburger and fries.

"Pestering her already, old man?" he asked his father, sending him a hard look.

"Just talking," Billy answered, before turning around. "I'll let you be."

Lisa took a huge piece of bacon and put on her mouth, moaning with the delicious flavor.

"God, I'm hungry," Jacob chuckled, sitting in a chair in front of her bed – he had stayed there almost all day while she was being tortured by the venom.

They sat in comfortable silence while Lisa practically swallowed the whole tray down her throat. It took only ten minutes for her to finish everything, and she cleaned her greasy mouth with a napkin.

"Sooo… you're a wolf."

Lisa quirked an eyebrow to her friend obvious remark. "So are you,"

"Who told you that?" he joked, making a shocked face that didn't convince anyone.

"Your pup smell, obviously."

"Ha ha." He rolled his eyes, and they shared a smile. "I thought we'd lose you, you know."

"I'm a tough nut." She answered, shrugging. "Besides, I refuse to die because of a freaking bloodsucker."

"Yeah, right," he scoffed, looking mad for a moment. "It's all _their_ fault."

"What do you mean?" she wondered, not understanding what he meant.

"Our existence." Jacob stood up, shaking his head with anger. " _My_ existence. It's because of them. I'm a monster because of them."

"Wow, Jake, slow down a bit," she also stood up, feeling a hundred percent better after the food she consumed, her strength returning. She stared at her friend with a frown, seeing that he was really upset, even shaking a little. "You're not a monster. You just happen to have a gene, is all. It's just like having blue eyes or something."

"Are you kidding?" he rolled his dark eyes, grinding his teeth together. "I turn into a fucking wolf. _Hell,_ you turn into a fucking wolf! How can you think this is normal?"

Lisa sighed, coming closer to him and putting her hands on his shoulders to get his attention; he was getting angry, not being able to fully control his temper anymore now that his wolf gene had kicked in. Knowing that if he got _too_ flared up he would burst into a wolf right in the middle of his room, Lisa decided to take it easy.

"I was born like that, Jake," She spoke softly, looking him in his eyes. "Do you think I'm a monster?"

She honestly feared his answer for a moment; she had never really thought she was a monster, she knew she was different, unique, but that was all. Now, hearing one of her best friends saying that _he_ , an innocent boy who had never done anything bad in his life besides getting into fights at school, was a monster, she was afraid of what he might think of her after he found out – if he did – about her past.

If anyone there was a monster, she would be the candidate. Not Jacob Black. Not Jake.

He shook his head, staring down at his feet. "Of course not, Lis. You're good,"

"And so are you, Jake. I know it's… _hard_ to be that different. Honestly, I can't imagine how you're feeling now that you discovered that supernatural monsters exist in real life, and that you're kinda one. But it is what it is…" she shrugged, smiling. "Try to think on the good side. You're a _freaking_ wolf! How amazing is that?"

Jacob scoffed, rolling his eyes. "Whatever,"

"That's my boy," she patted him on the cheek before sitting down on the bed again. "By the way, where's Bella? Is she ok?"

This time Jacob got all serious, which worried Lisa to no ends. She had seen Bella when she was suffering from the venom; the brunette had stayed with her for a long time, her brown eyes wide and scared. Then she disappeared, and Lisa wasn't sure why.

"She is fine… at least physically." He sighed loudly, throwing his body on the bed next to Lisa and pulling at his short hair. "She's going crazy, obviously. She's been calling at least ten times a day to ask how you are," Lisa smiled fondly, but then it dropped when she remembered that Bella had actually seen her shift.

And fight a vampire that she knew!

"Jake, she was dating a vampire." She said staring at her friend with wide eyes, looking exasperated. "And she _knew_ he was a vampire! How insane is that?"

"Yea, tell me about it." He groaned, locking his jaw in anger. "I knew those Cullens had something off with them. They were _way_ too pale,"

Lisa quirked one eyebrow, amused. "I didn't know people here were all tanned,"

"Well they were paler," he rolled his eyes, a thoughtful look on his face.

"Anyway," she sighed, staring at the white ceiling from Jacob's bedroom. "now more than ever I hope they never come back," Jacob nodded.

"Ditto."

They stayed silent for a moment, each of them lost in their own musings. So many things had happened in the last week that it was hard to keep track. First Jacob phased, which led him to stop talking to them, and made Bella mad; then, crazy-ass-Bella decides to go on a hike, which Lisa also thinks is a good idea, since she didn't think for one second that there were vampires roaming about the woods that she and her friends had hiked several times before. Out of thin air, a bloodsucker appears, and surprise, surprise - he knows Bella from old times. Afterwards, Lisa finds out that Bella had known that vampires existed all along, and actually _dated_ one. Then Lisa has to protect her from the Blade wannabe, shifting right in front of a _human_.

Lisa sighed loudly, wondering what Bella was thinking at the moment, since now she knew that not only did she date a vampire, but two of her best friends were also wolves. It made Lisa uneasy, fearing that she would stop talking to them or worse, that she would expose them.

She shook her head, averting the thoughts.

Bella would never say anything, right?

Or would she?

"How did she react," she blurted out, unable to keep quiet anymore. Jacob looked at her with confusion, a frown marrying his handsome face. "To _us_ , I mean?"

"The wolf thing?" he wondered, and she nodded, biting her lip nervously. "I actually…don't know. We didn't have time to talk about it, honestly." It was Lisa's time to get confused.

"What do you mean?"

"After the whole thing, she was hysterical. She thought you were going to die, and she didn't want to leave the house… she stayed with you until the night fell and Billy told her to go home. She didn't want to, of course, stubborn as she is,"

Lisa smiled, thinking that sounded just like Bella. She was stubborn as hell.

"But then Billy called Charlie and she was… obligated to leave. She didn't look very happy, but I know that she'd never tell anyone."

"Why did Billy sent her home?" she asked curious. After all, if Bella wasn't going to say anything, that was okay for her to stay, right? At least that made sense for her. Jacob, though, sighed.

"He didn't want her here in case something else happened." He shook his head, passing a hand over his face; for the first time, Lisa realized her friend was tired, heavy bags lying under his brown eyes. "She wasn't supposed to know. How fucked up is this? This is a tribe secret…not even the people here know the truth, Lis."

"I know," Lisa agreed, turning back to look at the ceiling. "She wouldn't let you be, though, Jake. She was pretty upset that you were shutting us out,"

"I couldn't help it."

"I know," she smiled reassuringly at him, which he returned. "I knew you were phasing."

Jacob's eyes widened this time, and Lisa chuckled a little at his expression.

"The smell." Was all she said and acknowledgment dawned on him. "When I realized what you were… God, it was the weirdest thing ever! I mean, I came all the way to Forks to _escape_ this life, and then one of my closest friends had the wolf gene," she shook her head, looking back at him. "I thought we'd turn into enemies…"

"Tsc, as if you and Bella would leave me alone." Though his voice sounded annoyed, he smirked. "By the way, where do you come from? And don't tell me it's from Portland."

"How do you know I'm not from Portland?" her eyebrows raised, and Jacob scoffed.

"You've a fake ass accent, that's how."

Lisa laughed, which made Jacob chuckle with amusement. "When I came here, I didn't _think_ I had an accent, so I didn't even worry about it. Until people started to notice it and say it was nothing like Portland's accent. Gosh, I'm stupid."

"Yea, not very bright," she slapped him, rolling her eyes though still smiling.

"Anyway, I come from Minnesota."

"Ah, that's where it's from, then." She nodded. "Why did you move?"

Lisa tried very hard _not_ to show that the question bothered her; it was a past that she wanted to forget, to put behind her and hopefully never look back. However, if she wanted her friend, and the pack, to believe her, she would have to be at least a little honest. Not tell the whole truth, but also not necessarily lie.

She sighed and stood up, staring straight ahead so Jacob wouldn't look at her face.

"I was _tired_ of the life there. We… my clan, they aren't like you guys. They're not protectors, quite the opposite actually,"

"What do you mean?"

"We had fights over territory. It's been happening for years, and it got pretty annoying." Jacob hummed, noticing she was getting uncomfortable by the way her feet began to tap on the floor anxiously.

They would have continued to talk but thanks to god, or more specifically to Bella Swan, both wolves heard the phone ringing and instantly knew it was the brunette calling. They stood silently listening to Billy picking up the phone.

"Hello, Bella," the old man sounded annoyed, and Lisa wondered how many times she had called already to annoy him. "Yes, she is up. I don't think it's a good idea. Just…Hello? Goddamn girl,"

Jacob and Lisa looked at each other and started laughing. It didn't take a long moment before Billy Black showed up at the bedroom door, a boring look on his face.

"Bella is on her way,"

* * *

When Bella's truck parked in front of the Black's house, Jacob and Lisa were already there waiting. The girl barely turned off the engine before climbing out of the car and running towards her friends. Lisa stood up and Bella threw herself onto the taller girl, while Jacob chuckled at the brunette's desperation.

"Gosh, Lis! You're alive, you're here!" Bella's voice was muffled on Lisa's shoulder while her arms tightly wrapped themselves on the blonde's neck.

"Hey, Bells, I'm alright, calm down." She asked, laughing lightly and holding Bella so she wouldn't hang on her neck like a limp necklace.

"I thought you'd die!" Bella finally let go, staring at her tall friend with a frown and pouted lips; she was about to cry, it seemed. "And it'd have been my entire fault."

"Pff," Lisa scoffed, rolling her eyes. "As if a bloodsucker would've been able to _kill_ me."

"Don't joke," Bella scolded her, crossing her arms over her chest. "Vampires are powerful, strong and fast! Plus, Laurent was a pretty experienced vampire; he could've killed you…"

Jacob and Lisa exchanged an exasperated look, and Lisa cringed a little at the barely there admiration coming from Bella towards vampires.

"He didn't, though. And now he is probably burning in hell," Jacob snapped, remembering clearly the sound of the vampire's screams when they dismembered him and threw his body in the fire.

"What do you mean?" Bella asked, confused.

"We killed him, obviously."

The brunette gasped, her mouth hanging slightly open. "You…killed…Laurent?"

Jacob scoffed, nodding. "Was that his name?" Bella was too shocked to answer anything, her eyes staring at the boy who had been just a teen a week ago. "You're not upset about it, are you? He was going to kill Lisa… _you_ , and he'd have succeeded if we hadn't heard Lisa's howl. You know that, right?"

Finally, Bella was snapped out of her shock. "I know that. No, I'm not upset – I'm…" she sat down on the porch, looking overwhelmed. "He is dead. He's not coming back for me."

"Yeah, he won't." Jacob huffed, crossing his arms in a threatening way, making his muscles stand out even more. "You're not mad? He wasn't one of your friends or anything, right?"

"My friend?" she looked back at them, her eyes suddenly getting moist. Lisa sat down next to her, trying to comfort the girl somehow. "No, Jake. I'm so…so _relieved._ He'd have killed Lisa, and if he had escaped, he surely would come after me…I've been expecting for him those last two days, imagining him coming and taking me. I've been so frightened…But how? He was a vampire! How did you kill him?"

Jacob looked over Bella tenderly, the innocent, almost childish look on her face making his heart race a little. Lisa looked at him with an eyebrow raised, but he didn't even notice.

"It's what we're made for, Bells." He answered her, his voice soft, calm. "We're strong, too. You saw Lisa fighting, right?" the brunette nodded, looking at her blonde friend. "She stood up to him, even ripped his arm away," the younger wolf grinned.

"Anyway," Lisa cleared her throat, sending Jacob a warning look. Though Bella knew about _them_ , she didn't need to know all the details. She was just a teenage girl, after all, who already had far too many nightmares. "Everything is ok now, you don't need to worry anymore."

"But he bit you! Didn't you…" Bella started, looking around them as if expecting someone there listening to the top secret conversation, "Why didn't you _turn_?"

"I'm not human, Bells." She answered, receiving a confused look from Bella. "I'm a wolf. Vampire venom doesn't change us… it just hurts like a bitch."

"Ok… I guess I understand." The brunette nodded. They stood there in silence for a couple of minutes exchanging weird looks, like none of them knew how to move on with the conversation. Bella finally had enough, and continued with her questions. "Jake, was that why you stopped talking to us?"

"Yes," he nodded. "We're not supposed to be near… humans. First because we can't tell you our secrets, but also because it's not _safe_ for you."

"Why?"

"If I get _too_ mad… too upset… you might get hurt,"

Lisa and Jacob stood watching for her reaction, and they were surprised when she rolled her eyes in annoyance.

"You know what? I'm tired of everyone telling me this…"

"Who else…?" Lisa started, but stopped mid-sentence when she realized. "Oh…I see."

Once again, they all stood there in silence – Jacob frowning madly, Lisa uncomfortable, and Bella just biting her lip.

It was… _awkward_.

"What'd happen if…" Bella interrupted the silence once again, her eyes trained on her hands. "…If you got mad?"

"I'd turn into a wolf," Jacob answered quietly.

She made a sound of understanding, turning her brown eyes to Lisa's face. "Does this happen to you, too?"

"Not anymore," she shrugged, and when she received inquiring looks from both Jake and Bella, she formulated. "I'm not a _pup_ anymore. I'd enough time to learn how to control my shifting."

"I'm not a _pup,_ " Jacob whined, sick of being called like that by her. Lisa rolled her eyes, smirking.

"You sound like one speaking,"

"And you sound like an old lady when you're basically my age."

Lisa's cringe didn't pass unnoticed by her friends. "Actually…"

"Don't tell me you're from the nineteenth century, too," Bella pleaded, which made Lisa laugh out loud.

"Of course not," she shook her head in amusement. "But I'm not you age either…I'm a bit older."

"What?" Jacob snapped. "You look like us, our age, I mean."

"Yeah, well," she started, talking a deep breath. She didn't know how they would react with the piece of information she was about to share. "I'm thirty-four."

"WHAT?" both Bella and Jacob yelled, and Lisa sent them a warning look since they were still in the front porch and someone could hear them.

"It's not like I'm _that_ old," she rolled her eyes at the exaggerated reaction. "And Jake how come you don't know that? Shifters _don't_ age unless they stop shifting for good." She stopped to think for a moment, biting her lip. "At least in my family that's how it is."

Before Jacob could answer, another voice joined in their conversation. They all looked back to Billy Black, who was serious as usual.

"It's similar to us, too." He said.

" _Shit_. So I'm immortal or whatever?" Jacob wondered, still shocked. His father nodded his head slowly.

"Usually, though, nobody chooses to live forever."

"Wow, that's cool." Bella offered, looking at her two friends with wonder. Then, she added bitterly. "I guess you two will see me age, _too_."

Neither Lisa nor Jacob understood what she meant by that, but they didn't think it would be nice to ask in front of Billy. The old man, though, noticed clearly to what Bella was referencing and resisted the urge to roll his eyes at the girl.

"Sam is coming." He told the wolves, turning to Bella. "We're having a council meeting, so I'm afraid you'll have to leave, Bella."

The brunette looked disappointed, but nodded, standing up. "Sleepover at Lis' today?" she offered, and Lisa straight up nodded. Jacob, though, looked unsure. He exchanged a look with his father, who was screaming "NO, JACOB" inside, but when he turned back to Bella, he couldn't say no to her puppy eyes.

"Ok."

"Nice. See you, then. Bye, Billy."

They all watched the girl hopping in her truck and leaving. Then, Billy called their attention.

"We're meeting in fifteen."

* * *

It felt weird for Lisa to join the Quileute council meeting. They all met around Billy's kitchen table, a bunch of way _too_ tall people squeezed together in the small Black's household. Besides Jacob, Billy and she, there were two other tribal elders – an old frail man with a wrinkled face, long white hair and dark eyes full of wisdom, and Harry Clearwater, whom she had already met some time ago on the dinner at the Black's place -, and the entire wolf pack as well.

They were all very tall and burly, some more than others, and all of them had short hair, dark eyes, and the distinct smell of a wolf. She didn't know most of them, but she did notice Embry standing there with his arms crossed, and he offered her a small smile of acknowledgment.

The alpha of the pack, Sam Uley, she remembered, stepped forward and started talking.

"Lisa Thompson, I'm Sam Uley, alpha of the pack and senior tribal leader," she didn't know what that actually meant, but decided to ask Jacob later on. "We've called this meeting to _understand_ and clear out some things that _your_ presence has brought forward. Do you understand that?"

"Of course," she didn't hesitate to answer, her voice firm and head high. She wasn't afraid, just a bit nervous since they were all staring at her intensely, like she was some sort of weird creature. Well, she was, but so were they. "I'll answer any questions you may have concerning me… as long as I'm comfortable with them, that is."

He nodded firmly. "Deal."

"We'd like to know first and foremost of what pack you come from. You _obviously_ aren't from any tribe." Harry Clearwater was the one to ask, and she nodded.

"I'm not. My _former_ pack," she made sure to highlight that she wasn't a part of them anymore. "is naturally from Iceland. We've moved to America during the WWII, and took residence in Kittson, Minnesota."

"I see," he nodded, a thoughtful expression on his wrinkled face. "We'd heard of other legends concerning wolf shifters, but never actually thought there were any _here,_ in the US."

Lisa's eyes widened in surprise. "Really? Well, there're _many_ wolf packs spread all over America, Canada… the world, pretty much."

Gasps were heard around, and the wolves started to mutter amongst each other. The elders also exchanged a look, before turning back to her. This time, Billy Black was the one to speak.

"How do you know?"

"My _clan_ was very territorial. It was one of the things that mattered the most for us – territory. It showed power, so we expanded a lot after moving on to here. At the beginning, there were four different clans inside the pack, and we'd lived peacefully back in Iceland, but it all changed after many of us were sent to the war, to fight, including our alpha."

"The clans decided to move, then, and we decided we would keep a low profile until the war was over. After that, it was a mess, since we didn't have a _leader_ , an alpha to take care of everything. So the fights started because each clan thought they had the right to rule. In my clan, the right of being an alpha comes from heritage; however, if there isn't any heir of the first wolf alpha, a challenge for the position will be held. Whoever wins it becomes the alpha. You can imagine how many disputes happened until one strong wolf from one of the families was _too_ strong to be defeated. But the other clans didn't accept the decision easily, and decided they wanted to part ways. It wasn't forbidden to do it, so all the clans started their own packs with their own alphas. The only problem, then, was the territory. No one wanted to hand over Kittson, so again there were fights, but this time over the place."

"Finally, after years, my clan was able to win Kittson, and the other clans decided to move to other regions of Minnesota – and some even went to other states, like Wisconsin. The fights, though, never completely stopped." She finished, shivering at the memories that came flooding through her mind; those had been dark times, and she hated to remember them.

Quil Ateara's voice snapped her out of them. "Your clan… do they hunt vampires, too?"

She shook her head. "No. We didn't see many vampires in our region; I guess it's because of the strong smell of the pack. They're pretty numerous."

"Why do you say _they_? Don't you consider yourself part of the clan anymore?" Sam asked.

"No, I don't." she wasn't comfortable to say why, so she remained quiet. Realizing she wasn't going to say anything else, Sam Uley nodded and changed the question.

"Why did you leave?"

She sighed loudly, passing a hand through her hair. "I was tired of all the fighting. I guess I just wanted to… _feel_ normal." She shrugged sheepishly. "You don't need to worry about them coming after me. It won't happen."

All of them seemed relieved by that small piece of information, as if it was all they were expecting to hear from her. The reassurance that her presence wouldn't cause any havoc in Forks, and, by consequence, in the tribe.

"At what age did you turn?"

After that, all the questions they made were concerning her wolf gene, and she answered everything honestly; by their relaxed stances, she knew they were only curious about her, after all they didn't even think there were other wolves besides themselves.

"Women and men can be wolves, as well as alphas." She explained when they wondered if all women could shift in her clan, since in theirs there weren't any stories about women shifters. That disappointed her a little, but she didn't say anything. "I already had a great-grandmother who was the alpha of the pack. She left to grow old, though."

"So you can grow old?"

"Yes, like you guys If we stop shifting, we age. But usually we don't do it; being a wolf is our first nature, more so than being human." She explained, smiling a little. "I guess in that regards we are different."

"Indeed." Harry nodded. "Well, we've discussed your position a couple of days before, Lisa. With Jacob's testimony that you've never hurt a fly, and the fact that you actually fought the vampire trying to save _Bella Swan_ ," he sighed, probably remembering the danger magnet that was the daughter of his friend. "We decided that you pose no harm for the tribe."

She smiled thankfully, looking briefly over to Jake, who was also smiling.

"However, we'd kindly ask of you to tell us when you're coming down here. Just for precaution, I believe you understand."

"Absolutely," she didn't hesitate to answer, and she was being honest when she said she understood. After all, she was a _wolf_ and she could be dangerous. But they were trusting her, and that made her really happy.

"Good," he nooded once more, looking over the other elders and the wolves. "If it's not asking too much, we'd like to ask you to share some of the knowledge you have on other wolf packs around here."

"Of course."

The rest of the afternoon they spent talking about all the wolf packs Lisa knew, which weren't many, but they existed. They had been very kind to her, not pushing her to answer anything, and at the end, they all shook her hand and thanked her. The elders, then, left, and only Sam and the wolf pack remained there. Jacob was the first to come over, putting his arm around her shoulders.

"Feeling overwhelmed, old lady?" she rolled her eyes, elbowing him on the ribs. "Ouch,"

"Shut it, pup,"

"Lisa," Sam called her attention, coming closer to the bantering friends. "Now that we settled that you not a treat anymore, we'd like to tell you something."

Jacob became tense, stiffening his shoulders, and Lisa felt that whatever Sam was going to tell her, it would be important.

"That vampire wasn't the only one lurking around, I'm sure you heard about the "bear" attacks happening around Forks, right?" she nodded, remembering clearly the times Bella's friends from school talked about it. It was clear now that there weren't any bears around. "There's another one; a red head. We believe she had been together with the other one…Maybe his mate, or something."

"The bitch keeps running away, _goddamn leech_ ," the guy standing next to Sam said, looking angry with his arms shaking slightly.

"Relax, Paul." Sam ordered, eyeing him with seriousness. The Paul guy only scoffed, though. "She's after something, we don't know what it is. She keeps dancing around the edges, like she's testing us…" he sighed, shaking his head. "It's just a heads up. Also, since you're with the Swan girl every day, we thought that maybe you can keep an eye on her."

Suddenly, a memory came flooding through Lisa's mind at the mention of Bella's name.

 _Victoria, you know, won't be happy about me killing you. She wants your head, mate for mate, so she sent me in to survey the field._

"It's Bella. She wants Bella." She said, her mouth gaping open and eyes wide.

"What?" Jacob growled, already shaking with anger.

"Before I fought the vampire," she started to explain, staring at Sam since he was the alpha. "Bella and he exchanged some words; I didn't understand most of it, but I do remember him saying that a certain Victoria wanted Bella's head. _Mate for mate_ , he said."

"Shit," Embry muttered.

"We need to talk to her," Sam told them all, stopping to look at Jacob. "You think you can do that?"

"Yes," he answered through gritted teeth.

"We'll meet her tonight."

"Good," Sam said, nodding his head. "Try to get as much information about her as possible. We'll need it."

"Absolutely."

* * *

Bella's loud truck was heard by Jacob and Lisa before she had even entered Lisa's street. The friends shared a look, and Jacob stood up from the couch and went outside to wait for her there. After they talked to Sam, Lisa properly met the other wolves – the ones she didn't know, Paul and Jared -, and then Jake and her came to her place to wait for Bella. As soon as they called her, she said she'd be there in ten minutes or so.

No sooner said than done. In ten minutes she parked in front of Lisa's home, turning off the engine and pretty much running towards the house. She was eager to get more answers, as well as find out what happened in the council meeting.

"Sit down, Bells. I made some sandwiches," Lisa told her with a kind smile, already carrying the tray from the kitchen. The brunette did as she was told, and soon they were all sat there, looking at each other.

"So, tell me what happened!"

Jake and Lisa exchanged a look before Jacob spoke. "Everything is ok with Lisa." The blonde nodded, smiling. Bella sighed in relief, also smiling. "But we have something to ask you, Bells."

"What?"

"Who is Victoria and what does she want with you?" he was objective. Bella's eyes widened for a moment, and she got that faraway look from when she remembered something. She frowned.

"Bells?" Lisa called her, seeing that she was in a daze.

"She is Laurent's friend," the brunette finally said. "A long time ago… I was with…the _Cullens_. We were playing baseball," Jacob scoffed loudly, and Lisa sent him a look of warning. "Then these three vampires heard and decided to show up. Their names were Laurent, Victoria and James." She cringed at the last name, holding the wrist where she had the faint scar Lisa had seen so many times.

Lisa sat down next to her friend putting a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

"James was what they called… _tracker_ ," at Lisa and Jacob's confused looks, she explained. "It's an ability. Vampires can have those abilities… anyway, he could track anyone he set his mind onto."

"And the lucky of the time was you," Jacob spoke, his hands closed into fists. Though he was not shaking, Lisa kept an eye on him. A shifter as green as he was didn't have a lot of control over his emotions, especially over his _anger_.

Bella nodded imperceptibly, her voice low when she spoke next. "He started this _game_ of trying to hunt me. I had to run away with the Cullens, but he found me. There was a fight with Edward, and he was killed," she summarized, not very comfortable in telling everything, the memory still haunted her. "He was Victoria's mate."

Lisa instantly understood. "Now she wants revenge."

"But why you? Wasn't it the _leech_ who killed him?" Jacob snapped, his teeth gritting.

"Laurent mentioned she said it was fairer to kill me than Edward. _Mate for mate._ She didn't know—still doesn't know, I guess—that… that…" she swallowed hard. "That things aren't like that with us anymore. Not for Edward, anyway."

Lisa hugged Bella's shoulders, seeing one of the sad looks coming over her face. At that moment, she shared a brief look with Jacob, and both of them had a mutual understanding.

Edward Cullen was a major asshole.

"Is that why the Cullens left?" Jacob asked.

Bella's head hung low, her eyes downcast. "I'm nothing but a human, after all. Nothing especial," she shrugged weakly.

This time, Jacob growled loudly, standing up in a flash, his hands white with the force he was using to close them. "If that idiot bloodsucker is honestly stupid enough –"

"Jake!" Lisa called his attention, sending him a hard look. "Calm the _fuck_ down,"

He hesitated, and Lisa gave him a pointed look that said _I'll make you if you don't sit you ass RIGHT NOW._

"This is important," the blonde said after Jake finally sat down, "This is exactly what we needed to know. Jake, you've got to tell the others right away."

The boy nodded, standing up and going to the back of Lisa's house.

"Where're you going?" Bella asked, looking up at his retreating form.

"I'll tell the pack,"

He opened the door and left, leaving Bella and Lisa by themselves.

"He'll shift," Lisa explained to her, seeing that she had a worried look on her face. "Wolves can communicate through their minds."

"Oh," was all the brunette managed to say. Suddenly, the atmosphere was very heavy.

"Are you ok?" Lisa asked after a couple of minutes in silence. Bella sighed, shaking her head.

"It's… _too_ much. You almost dying, Laurent, Victoria, werewolves…"

"Hey, just wolf." She corrected, smiling. "I understand, it _is_ a lot to take in at once. But you don't need to worry, you know. As far as we know, this vampire chick is alone, outnumbered. We can handle her,"

"We?"

"Yes." Lisa looked at her confused friend. "You didn't expect me to just watch while a bunch of green _boys_ did all the fun work, right?"

"But Lis, you almost…" _died_ , she wanted to say, but couldn't. Lisa sighed once again, taking Bella's hand and making the brunette look at her.

"I'm not _that_ strong, that's true. But I'm strong, and I'm fast. I'm a _warrior_ , Bella. I've fought for most of my life." She shook her head, smiling once again. "Trust me a bit, ok? Girl power and all that."

Bella chuckled, nodding. "Ok. Just don't…"

Lisa nodded. "Don't worry. I won't." 

Jacob came back a couple of minutes later, dressed only with a pair of jean shorts, shaking his head a bit – it was raining outside. He sat down on Lisa's arm chair, putting his naked _and_ dirty feet on her coffee table.

"We're good." He said, resting his big head on the back of the arm chair. "Don't worry, Bells. We'll take care of you – and Charlie, too. I promise."

"The idea of you finding Victoria is scarier than the idea of her finding me, especially with _you_ guys after her." Bella whispered.

Jacob, though, laughed. "You've got to have a little more confidence in us than that. It's insulting."

Lisa agreed but didn't voice it. Bella, though, looked unconvinced.

"Vampires are just…"

"Strong, fast, beautiful, amazing, yare, yare?" Jake completed sarcastically. Lisa chuckled. "We're _better_. And we can turn into freaking wolves, much cooler."

"Some of them, though, have _gifts._ Like James and…" she stopped, gulping. "Edward."

"What did _he_ do?" Jacob spat, jealously evident on his voice.

Bella looked uncomfortable, but answered anyway. "He heard thoughts," she said quietly.

"Wow, that must've been nice."

"Ok, that's enough," Lisa told the younger wolf. "Do you think this Victoria has one of those gifts?"

"I honestly don't know. But I don't think so. _He_ would've mentioned it."

"He? Oh, you mean Edward —oops, sorry. I forgot. You don't like to say his name. Or hear it," Jacob said, and Lisa sent him another look. She was getting annoyed by his antics.

"Not really, no." Bella answered, hugging herself as if she was in pain.

"Sorry," Jake said.

The rest of the evening the three friends pretty much spent talking; talking about vampires, wolves, how different Lisa is from Jacob, and how the hell Bella fell in love with a vampire in the first place – though the brunette didn't talk much about it. It felt weird for all three of them to talk about those things that were supposed to be secrets to each other. At the same time, it seemed that there was nothing to stop their friendship of getting stronger now that the secrets were all laid out in the opening.

Well, at least most of them.


	10. Chapter IX

Another week passed by without many changes. Everyday Lisa went to school with Bella, and then either the brunette would come to her house, or she would go to hers. Sometimes Jacob would appear too, and they would do the same things they used to before – talk, eat junk food, do homework, watch movies or listen to music. It was all so habitual that they felt… normal. However, it was during the night time that they all remembered that Bella was in danger, and that there was a Beatrix Kiddo vampire version looking for revenge for her deceased mate.

Usually, Bella just slept over Lisa's place; when Charlie started complaining though, they had to take shifts outside her house to ensure she was okay. On Saturday, after Lisa and Bella's shifts at work, Jacob stopped by and they all went to the reservation. The wolf had told them that there was a pack meeting he wanted them to be part of. The girls went on Lisa's car, listening to Lisa's usual car soundtrack – 80's rock 'n roll.

When they got to La Push, Jacob was already waiting for them.

"Jake, are you sure this is ok?" Bella asked for the tenth time that day, biting her lip nervously while they walked into the woods to the place where they would meet.

"Yeah, Bella, relax, ok?"

She sighed but didn't say anything else. Lisa looked briefly over Jake, wondering if he had told his pack brothers that they'd go to that meeting. It took them ten minutes to get to a small clearing right in the middle of the woods. The smell of the different wolves hit her before she actually saw them, and she could also hear them talking quietly amongst themselves.

 _"What is Jacob thinking bringing the leech-lover over the meeting?"_ someone growled, and by that Lisa decided it hadn't been a good idea to bring Bella over.

 _"Easy, Paul. She can help,"_ Sam ordered, his alpha voice firm.

 _"Yeah, right."_ Paul scoffed, clearly not happy.

Lisa sighed quietly, sending Jake a look over Bella's head. He pretended he didn't see it. When they arrived, all wolves were gathered around, some – Jared and Paul - with their arms crossed and a distasteful look on their faces. Sam, though, stared at them peacefully. He nodded towards Bella and Lisa, and then looked over to Jacob.

"Hey, guys." Lisa greeted awkwardly, not really feeling all comfortable there.

"I brought Bella over so she can help us," Jacob spoke, looking each of his brothers in the eyes.

"Help!" Paul shouted unable to control his anger anymore. "Oh, that's likely! I'm sure the leech-lover is just _dying_ to help us out!

"Paul!" Sam called his attention.

"Don't talk to her like _that_!" Jacob spat, angry with the criticism Bella was receiving.

Paul's body shuddered from head to toe, his eyes flashing dangerously.

"Paul! Relax!" Again Sam spoke, his alpha voice in. Paul shook his head, trying hard to focus on not changing right there.

"Geez, Paul." Jared muttered, shaking his head. "Get a grip."

Paul's dark eyes snapped in his direction, irritated, changing it to Bella right after. Lisa crossed her arms over her chest, eyeing the tall boy with skepticism, while Jacob stepped in front of Bella protectively.

"Right, protect _her_!" Paul roared in anger, another shudder going through his body. Lisa realized he would shift, he was far too angry. Instantly she got closer to Bella, taking her hand and squeezing it, eyes glued on Paul's form.

She might not be as big as he was, but she sure as hell could put up a fight.

"Paul!" Sam and Jacob yelled at the same time, but it was all for naught. He shifted into a gray wolf.

Jacob, then, left his position in front of Bella and ran towards Paul, also shifting into a brown wolf. Lisa sighed, eyeing Sam, who was also shaking his head.

"Jacob!" Bella suddenly screamed, seeing that the two wolves would confront each other. She tried going forward, but Lisa held her in place. When brown eyes stared at her, she just shook her head.

The wolves started fighting one another, snapping and tearing at each other's jugular, the white teeth clashing into flesh. Jacob was bigger and stronger than Paul, and he was winning. Lisa couldn't help but feel pride in her chest, though on the outside she was impassive.

"Take them to Emily's" Sam suddenly said. "I'll stop those two."

Embry and Jared came forward, Embry laughing at the fight while Jared just look bored.

"Well, there's something that you don't see every day," Embry said, snickering.

"What? Two pups fighting to see who has the bigger _cock_?" she quirked one eyebrow, making Embry laugh even harder.

"Every _goddamn_ day," Jared grumbled.

"Aw, Paul doesn't lose his temper _every_ day," Embry disagreed, grinning from ear to ear. "Maybe two out of three."

"Look at this," Jared picked up the rest of one of Jacob's sneakers. "Billy said this was the last pair he could afford—guess Jacob's going barefoot now."

"This one survived," Embry showed the other foot, "Jake can hop."

"Get Sam's shoes, will you? All the rest of this is headed for the trash." Jared started picking all the remnant of clothes from the wood floor. Embry did the same, while the girls only watched.

Lisa looked over at Bella, then, seeing the girl paler than a ghost.

"Are you ok, Bells?"

The brunette shook her head, her mouth open. "No, not really."

"Sit down for a moment. Take a deep breath, come on." She helped her breath in and out, watching the color slowly go back to her face. "There you go,"

"Aren't you worried about them? About Jake?" Bella whispered to her, eyes still wide with worry. Lisa smiled softly, shaking her head.

"They won't kill each other, Bells. Relax."

"Well, I hope Paul bites Jake's ass off," Jared said from across the clearing. He had a handful of shreds on his arms. "Teach him a lesson."

"Pff, yeah, right." Embry scoffed. "Did you see Jake? Even Sam couldn't have phased on the fly like that. He saw Paul losing it, and it took him, what, half a second to attack? The boy's got a gift."

"That's true," Lisa offered, remembering the scene. "I bet ten bucks he wins," she smirked, seeing Embry laugh and Jared quirk one eyebrow.

"Paul's been fighting longer. I'll bet you ten bucks he _wins_."

"Experience on this case doesn't matter," she countered. "Jake is _bigger_ and _stronger_."

"Thus, he is a natural," Embry agreed, "I bet ten on Jake, too"

Jared rolled his eyes. "I'll get twenty bucks richer today," he said, walking out of the clearing. They all followed him.

"So, who's Emily?" Lisa asked Embry, who was walking besides them.

"Sam's fiancée." He answered, turning his eyes back to Bella. "Are you ok?"

Besides not being white as a sheet of paper anymore, she was still pretty shocked with everything, not to mention worried about Jacob.

"I'll be," was all the brunette answered.

"I thought you were tougher, running with bloodsuckers and all." Jared commented, looking over his shoulder to Bella.

"You can't run with vampires," Bella retorted, making Lisa bit her lip to stop the laughter. "They're too fast."

Jared rolled his eyes dramatically. "Yea? We're faster."

They all walked towards the place where the Emily girl lived. It took them ten minutes to get there, and they spent it making small talk. Emily's place was a small, cozy home, and before they got to the door the smell of fresh baked muffins hit them, making Lisa's stomach growl.

"Mmm, Emily's cooking," Embry said, inhaling deeply the delicious smell.

"Hey, don't stare at her. That bugs Sam," Jared informed them, following after Embry.

When they got to the house, Jared and Embry entered without knocking, and the girls followed after them.

The house was pretty simple inside, with a small living room and an open kitchen. A young woman with long, straight black hair stood in front of the counter, taking off recently baked muffins from the tin and putting them on a plate. She turned to look at them, a big smile on her face.

"You guys hungry?"

Lisa noticed that the right side of her face had some scars that resembled claws, and it dawned on her that the girl must've been near a wolf when he phased.

"Oh," she looked over at them, surprised. "Who're those?"

"This is Lisa," Jared told her pointed towards Lisa, "and that's Bella Swan."

"Hello!" Lisa waved, smiling.

"Hi, Lisa!" she turned to Bella, a sparkle on her dark eyes. "So, you're the vampire girl."

Bella stiffened beside her. "Yes. Are you the wolf girl?"

Emily stared at her for a moment before bursting into laughter, being followed by the rest of the wolves. "I guess I am," she turned to Jared. "Where's Sam?"

"Bella, er, surprised Paul this morning."

Emily rolled her eyes in annoyance. "Ah, Paul," she sighed. "Do you think they'll be long? I was just about to start the eggs.

"Don't worry," Embry told her, smirking. "If they're late, we won't let anything go to waste."

Emily chuckled, and then opened the refrigerator. "No doubt," she agreed. "Girls, are you hungry? Go ahead and help yourself to a muffin."

"Yeah," Lisa answered, her mouth watering at the smell. Embry and Jared laughed when she bit the muffin and moaned. "Mmm, it's delicious, Emily."

"Thanks," the girl smiled, happy. "Save some for your brothers," she warned the boys after Embry swallowed one whole.

"Pig," Jared muttered, being much more contained then Embry.

"So, Lisa, you come from Minnesota, right?" Emily asked while she mixed a bowl full of eggs. Lisa, who had her second muffin in her mouth, nodded.

"Yes," she answered after swallowing, "Born and raised."

"Nice," Emily smiled. "I'm curious about something. How is it like to be a wolf girl?"

Lisa shrugged, taking another bite from the muffin. "It's alright."

"She was born a wolf, Em." Embry explained. "It's different from us."

"Oh, I see."

The front door opened before Lisa could say anything else. Sam came in, looking straight at his fiancée.

"Emily," he kissed her on the face and then on the lips, so lovingly and full of adoration on his dark eyes.

"Hey, none of that," Jared whined. "I'm eating"

"Then shut up and eat," Sam snapped, kissing Emily again.

Soon after, Jacob and Paul entered the house as well, both laughing. Paul punched Jacob on the shoulder, and all was alright again. Jacob scanned the room before falling over his two friends – a retracted Bella looking uncomfortable and Lisa devouring her third muffing.

"Hey, guys," he greeted, grabbing two muffins from the table and taking a large bite from one. "Sorry about before,"

"It's okay," Bella answered, nibbling her muffin like she had been doing before.

"Yo, Lisa!" she turned to look at Embry, seeing a big smile on his face. "Guess who just won twenty bucks?"

"Yay," she cheered happily.

* * *

At the meeting at Sam's house, in which they shared all the information Bella had given concerning the red headed vampire, they had decided they would split to cover more ground and confuse the vampire; they would be divided in pairs, and Lisa ended up with Jacob, even if she wasn't part of the pack. At least they would be able to protect each other's back _and_ look after Bella. It was also decided that Bella would try to spend more time in La Push or at Lisa's house.

They spent the whole day in La Push, mainly at Billy's house, and eventually they had dinner with the presence of Charlie, who was invited by Billy. The evening passed in enjoyable companion and a delicious pizza Lisa was obligated to share with Jacob – it wasn't enough for two wolves, but they had to pretend it was.

After dinner, Lisa went with the Swans back to their place, where she would sleepover – she thanked god Charlie liked her and didn't mind her staying there, for she sure spent _a lot_ of time at the place – she had even left a pair of pajamas there just so she wouldn't need to bring a bag every time she went there.

Bella looked worried; the entire ride back home she had stayed silent while Lisa and Charlie talked. She just stared at the window, thoughtful, and she remained like that until they got to her place. Then, bidding Charlie good night, the girls went upstairs. Bella gave Lisa a towel and threw herself on the bed. Lisa took a shower and when she came back, the brunette was in the same position on the bed, staring at her ceiling, quiet.

Lisa put the towel on the back of a chair before throwing herself onto Bella's bed, startling her friend.

"So, what's on your mind?"

Bella sighed loudly, turning to look at her friend. "I'm worried about Jake, about you… about Victoria, Charlie." Her eyes filled with tears when she said quietly, "I can't stop thinking that this is all my fault."

"Look Bells," Lisa started after a moment in silence. "Things happen whether we want them to or not. Maybe things would've been different if you've never come to Forks, if I've never come here, but then we wouldn't have met. Then, if you've never dated Edward, if he'd never left, maybe we wouldn't have talked. And then, maybe this red headed vampire wouldn't be chasing you, and I wouldn't be here. So with all things considered, I'm glad you met this vampire guy,"

Bella scoffed, unable to keep a small smile from appearing on her face. "So it _is_ my fault,"

"I don't think so," She shrugged, not sugar coating anything. "Would you blame a zebra of being hunted by the lion?"

"No, but –"

"So why are you blaming yourself?" Bella stood quiet for a moment. "Vampires are like that, Bells. Hell, even wolves are. She sees you as nothing but _prey_. It's not your fault. It's hers,"

Bella sighed, shaking her head. "What if someone _dies_?"

"No one's gonna die,"

"How can you be so sure?" she snapped, sitting up on the bed and looking exasperated. "I mean, she _is_ a vampire. Ok, werewolves are strong, too, but what if she takes one of them? Like Laurent did to _you_?"

"It's not that easy, Bells," she tried, but the brunette was not having it.

"Yes, it is. You know that. You were almost crushed by him, what if- "

"You wanna know why I almost got crushed?" she interrupted her. "Cause you were there, Bells. And _you_ could've died. We, wolves, we can heal. We don't die that easily, but _you_ do. One slap he gave you, you'd been broken."

Bella stared at her with wide eyes, surprised.

"So please, as long as you and Charlie are safe, and we'll do everything in our power to protect you, you don't need to worry. She's one and we're six."

"Ok," she finally relented, sighing loudly. "I'm not doubting you. I just don't want to lose any of you… ever."

Lisa felt her heart swallow, understanding why she was so nervous; taking her hands in hers, she smiled.

"We're not going anywhere, promise."

Days passed quickly by, and soon another month was over. Life slowly turned back to normal, with Lisa sharing her time between school, Bella's place, with Jacob following Victoria's trails, and working half-time on the weekends. So far everything was fine, and the only thing still worrying the three friends and the wolf pack from La Push was the red headed vampire.

She was like a wet soap, always slipping right through their fingers when they were finally about to catch her. She was good, Lisa admitted; it almost felt like she _knew_ when they would come for her and where; it didn't matter if they run fast, she found a way to escape. It was pretty annoying, and everyone was getting pretty upset already.

One day, Jacob and Lisa had arranged to surprise Bella by telling her that they would go out together, it had been a long time since the trio hangout together because of Victoria, and Jacob wanted to go cliff diving, as he had promised Bella a long time ago, when Sam told him that they had crossed a fresh trail early in the morning. Lisa, who had already been in La Push since they had agreed to meet there, turned and shifted, entering the woods and looking for Jacob's scent. She wasn't part of the pack, but she had been running around with them for weeks now, only using their animalistic sounds to contact each other, since they didn't have the bond shared by the wolves of a pack. Besides all the danger of looking for a vampire, she found it very enjoyable and exciting. It had been a long time since she had done something in her wolf form, so she missed it; also, running around with Jacob made them bond even more.

Lisa saw him running, looking over his shoulder for a moment after sensing her; she huffed, forcing her legs to catch up with him – she wasn't the strongest wolf, but she sure was the faster. Her smaller size and leaner body helped her to project her body in a way that most males couldn't because of their size and weight. Soon they were side by side, the annoying sweet smell of the vampire making them run harder.

The forest passed through them in a blur, little animals hiding when feeling their presence, and at some point, they heard noise coming from humans walking by the forest. Lisa looked over Jacob, seeing him deep in thought, probably communicating with his pack; the smell from the humans suddenly mingled with the one coming from the vampire, which meant she was pretty close to them. Jacob looked over her, moving his head in another direction to indicate that they would change the position. She followed him, hoping that the vampire felt them and left the humans alone.

Three minutes passed before they caught her; Lisa's breath caught on her throat when she saw the vampire holding Harry Clearwater by the neck. Her crimson eyes stared at them, and she _smirked_. Both wolves growled, and Jacob thrust forward, hitting her with full force and making Harry fall on the floor. Lisa followed them, sparing a glance to see if Harry was alright, but not stopping fully because they had her right _there_. It was their chance.

She ran after Jacob, eyeing the red head and that ridiculous smirk on her pale face. She flanked Jacob, staying in a position that would make it difficult for her to escape. They stared at her, waiting for the opportunity to attack.

Jacob flexed his strong legs, pushing with full force to go after her; she twirled over him, though, and that was Lisa's change to get her. The girl jumped over the vampire, but was caught by surprise when she turned and threw her over her shoulder with no problem whatsoever. Lisa's wolf form hit a tree, cracking it loudly. Jacob growled once again before the vampire took off running. In a second the wolves were following.

They ran all over the forest, following her closely, Lisa trying her hardest to push her legs more, she was _almost_ there. The vampire, however, once again showed her expertise in escaping, for she found her way to the cliffs and jumped without thinking twice, disappearing in the dark, and cold water of the ocean. They all stood there, staring to the place where she had drawn, as if she would appear in any moment and they could follow her again.

It never happened, and once again they had lost their opportunity.

Jake, the one closer to the cliff, huffed in annoyance, turning to leave. They would've gone home if it weren't for the sound of someone splashing in the water. The friends looked over again to see if the vampire had been stupid enough to show up again, only to see that the person struggling against the heavy waves coming with violence was no one less than Bella Swan.

Through their wolf vision, which was a hundred times better than a human's, they saw her dark hair floating, while she sunk into the water, trying hard to resurface again. Lisa was _stunned_ ; she couldn't believe Bella had been reckless to the point of jumping off the cliff alone, without telling _anyone_ about it. Jacob turned around in a second, running in the direction the brunette was drowning, while Lisa stared dumbly. After a minute, she followed him.

Jacob jumped into the water without thinking twice, already in his human form, naked and all, to take Bella motionless form out of the water. Lisa followed them to the beach, not jumping off the cliff. When she arrived there, Jacob was doing CPR in Bella, trying to make the water she had inhaled get out through her mouth. Lisa shifted back to human, not minding her nudity in front of Jacob, and went besides him.

"Breathe, Bella! C'mon!" Jacob was begging, his hands pumping on her cold chest, and his mouth blowing air in her purple lips.

"C'mon, Bells!" Lisa was shocked, her hands trembling while she passed her fingers over Bella's damp hair. Her eyes started to fill with water, not believing that Bella had done something like that.

What was she thinking?

The girl finally started to cough all the water and Jacob helped her raise her head, worry written all over his face. She opened her eyes for a moment, closing them soon, unable to keep them open.

"Bells? Bells, can you hear me?" Jake asked.

"J-Jake?" she croaked, her voice hoarse. Both Lisa and Jake sighed in relief, and Lisa looked over at Jacob.

"We gotta take her out of here, Jake, she'll freeze. Thus, we're both naked." She pointed out, trying not to stare at him and he gave her the same courtesy.

Bella had woken up, though she wasn't talking because her throat was burning. Jacob took her in his arms, her form limp and _cold_. Seeing her like that gave the friends a bad feeling, for if it wasn't for her shallow breathing, they'd have thought she was dead.

"We should take her to a hospital or something," Jacob muttered and Lisa nodded. "Let's stop by my place so we can both get some clothes."

They didn't speak anymore, worry still lingering over their minds like a heavy cloud; Lisa still couldn't shake the terrible feeling of what Bella had done. It was _dangerous_ , and the brunette knew it. She knew they were hunting for a vampire that was, by the way, looking for her, and she goes and does something as reckless as jumping _alone_ from a fucking high cliff.

Around the edge of the woods surrounding Jacob's place, the boy handed Lisa one of his hidden shirts – they all had clothes lying around several spots on the woods, in case they shifted and ruined their clothes -, and she put it over her head thankfully. When they got to their place, Jacob placed Bella over the couch, eyeing Billy somberly.

"What happened?" the old man asked, eyeing Bella with worry.

"She jumped off the cliff," Jake answered, sighing loudly. "I'm gonna change,"

Lisa sat down next to Bella, getting closer to her so she would pass her body warmth to the cold teenager. She had a sad look on her face, Billy noticed, something that wasn't very usual for the normally good humored wolf girl. Jacob came back seconds later, bringing also a handful of his sisters' clothes to lend Lisa.

"I guess it fits," he shrugged, not really caring. They're way too worried about Bella to think about futilities like clothes. "Go change, I stay with her."

She did as she was told, going towards the bathroom and closing the door. She looked at herself in the mirror, seeing her pale, whitish blonde hair a disarray on her head, sticking everywhere; the locks were starting to get longer, she realized, touching the tips that were almost on her shoulders. She had heavy bags under her eyes, due to the lack of sleep she had been getting on the last couple of weeks. Jacob and her, when they weren't with Bella, usually took shifts to stay outside the girl's house to take care of her and Charlie. They had volunteered to do it since the pack had to hunt the vampire _and_ protect La Push in case she decided to attack the tribe. Therefore, it ended up for the friends to care for Bella Swan; they didn't mind, after all they were her friends and would do anything to protect her.

They only expected her to not be _reckless_ , just like she had done earlier that day. Jumping from a cliff that high could have actually killed her, if not the impact, then the violent water; Lisa honestly didn't understand what the hell Bella's problem was.

She put the jeans shorts and t-shirt, shaking her head as she decided she was going to _talk_ to Bella when she woke up.

"Yeah, it was _really_ stupid," she heard Jacob telling someone. It was Bella. "Look, do you mind saving the stupid stuff for when we're around? We won't be able to concentrate if we think you're jumping off cliffs behind our backs."

"Sure," the brunette answered sheepishly, head bowed. "No problem."

"How are you?" Lisa asked when she finally arrived at the living room, eyeing Bella.

"I'm…okay," she answered simply. "What happened today? Did you… find her?"

"No. She took off into the water—the bloodsuckers have the advantage there." He trailed off, looking tired and wasted. Lisa was like that, too.

"Jacob," Billy reappeared in the room after going to his room to answer a phone call. "Something happened."

They all looked at the old man in alarm, Lisa and Jacob exchanging a look of caution, thinking maybe Victoria had done something.

"Harry had a heart attack,"

Gasps sounded around the room, everyone shocked.

"How? I've just seen him in the woods…" Lisa trailed off, a sudden thought appearing in her mind. "Was it because…?" she started, her mouth hanging open when realization hit her.

"Oh, no." Jacob muttered, shaking his head.

"He's in the hospital." Billy continued quietly, a sad look on his face. "By the looks of it, he isn't gonna make it."

"Gosh," Lisa put a hand on her mouth, suddenly feeling like the world's biggest piece of junk. She had seen the old man on the floor, but in her hurry to get to Jake and help him, she didn't see that he was having an attack. "I _saw_ him…God, I actually saw him there!"

Tears came to her eyes, the tiredness and the weight of the day falling over her shoulders.

"Hey, Lis, I was there, too. It's not your fault." Jacob said, and though his voice was thick with emotion, she could hear that he didn't blame her. "If anyone's at fault here it's the _fucking bloodsucker_!" he snarled, his temper flaring.

"It's no time for rage now," Billy spoke solemnly, his voice firm and steady, like that of a leader. "I'm going to the hospital; you should too, Jake… Seth and Leah need some friends right now,"

Jacob nodded quietly.

"Lisa, can you take Bella home?" the blonde nodded, still feeling overwhelmed by all that had happened. "Good. Charlie's at the hospital, already, so you don't need to worry." He looked at Bella, who only nodded.

Then, he left the house, leaving the three friends in silence in the room.

"You gotta change," Lisa told Bella, without looking at her. "Then, we can go to your place. I'll stay there today," she was telling this to Jacob, for him not to worry that Bella would be protected.

"I'll grab some of Rebecca's clothes, hang on." Jake left the room, and once again all was silent.

Lisa wasn't feeling like talking to Bella at the moment. If she was being honest with herself, she was _mad_ at the girl. Perhaps she shouldn't, but she couldn't help it. With all that was happening, Bella shouldn't have been so petty and selfish. She felt the brunette's eyes over her, analyzing her, but she didn't open her mouth. Soon, Jacob came back, eyeing Lisa with his brow furrowed.

Bella left to change, walking all hunched over, still sore.

"Are you giving her the silent treatment?" Jake asked her silently. Lisa simply nodded.

"What she did… was not ok." She shook her head, crossing her arms. "She could've _died_ , Jake. I mean, aren't we doing all we can to stop the vampire from _killing_ her? And all so she can go and jump off a _fucking_ cliff, knowing it was dangerous?"

Jacob sighed, just too tired for more drama. "Just look after her, right?"

They didn't say anything else, and soon Bella returned. Lisa took her to her place like she had promised, putting music on the car so that they wouldn't need to talk. Jacob went to the hospital, saying that he would stop by later to check on them. The whole ride was silent with only the sound of the soft rock playing.

When they parked in front of Bella's place, the brunette couldn't take the silence anymore.

"I'm sorry, ok? I know I was stupid…it's just…I was feeling alone, you and Jake are never around anymore, neither is Charlie –"

"And your perfect solution is to jump from a cliff?" the blonde snapped, turning off the engine and staring at Bella with anger. "You wanna know why I'm so upset? Because we thought we'd lose you, Bella. All because of your recklessness!"

"I know, I'm sorry, sorry!" Bella started crying, thick tears on both her cheeks. "I don't know what's wrong with me. I just feel so lonely if nobody is with me all the fucking time! It's like this big hole on my chest opens and I need to find something to close it."

Lisa sighed, her anger diminishing at seeing Bella so broken in front of her. Usually the teenager kept her emotions to herself, even though Lisa knew she wasn't ok. She took one of her hands, squeezing it while Bella cried.

"You know we're not leaving you, right?" she asked quietly. "We're _not_ them, Bells. We'll never leave you."

Bella sobbed harder at the mention of the Cullens.

"You gotta let them go," Lisa made her look at her, a serious look on her face. "Only doing that you'll be able to finally heal."

They stayed in the car for a couple more minutes, Bella crying her eyes out while Lisa just listened. She was so engrossed with Bella that she only realized the sweet smell in the brunette's place after they finally left the car.

"Wait, Bella" she hissed, nostrils flaring when she caught the scent that made her stomach twist. "There's a vampire in there," in a second she took her cellphone and sent Jacob a message. "Let's go," she held Bella's hand and turned to go back in the car.

"Stop!" Bella suddenly screamed, turning around abruptly. "It's not Victoria."

"How do you know?" Lisa asked confused, still holding Bella in case they needed to run.

"It's Carlisle's car. It's the Cullens. I know it." She pointed to a black Mercedes parked right across the street. Bella turned to go to her house, but Lisa stopped her.

"Wait, Bells, let me go first to check. Stay here." She went to the house with long steps, looking over her shoulder and not being surprised to see that Bella was following closely. She rolled her eyes. "Really?" she hissed to her friend.

As soon as they got to the porch, Bella opened the door. The sickly sweet smell was strong, and Lisa knew the vampire was right there. Her dark eyes scanned the room, searching for the intruder, and sure enough she found them. The vampire was still, skin so pale she looked transparent, eyes dark and wide. She stared at Bella, then to Lisa and back, frowning.

"Alice! Oh, Alice!" Bella ran into the stranger without thinking twice, jumping over her and hugging her as if her life depended on it; Lisa sighed, clenching her fists at her side, watching the interaction with cautiousness. She understood that vampire was one of the Cullens – and that they were _supposedly_ good vampires -, but she didn't know them.

"Bella?" the vampire's voice was melodic, filled with confusion.

"I'm sorry, I…I just can't believe you're here," the brunette spoke, her voice shaken with emotion. "Is…Is -"

"Would you like to explain to me how you're alive?" the vampire – Alice -, interrupted Bella, her eyes wide and frantic.

Bella was confused, not understanding what she meant. "What?"

"I had a vision of you jumping off a cliff." She answered, staring Bella up and down like she wasn't really there. "Why in the hell would you try and kill yourself?"

This time, Lisa scoffed, attracting the vampire's attention once more.

"I didn't try to kill myself." Bella corrected, shaking her head. "I was cliff jumping. Recreationally. It was… _fun_."

"Are you freaking kidding me right now?" Lisa finally said something, entering the house and staring at Bella. " _Really_ , Bella?"

The brunette cowered a little with the intensity of Lisa's stare, something that made the vampire snap her eyes at the wolf and scrunch her nose.

"Who the hell are you?" she asked, coming closer to Bella _defensively_. That made Lisa roll her eyes with so much force that it actually hurt.

"I'm her _friend_. Do you even know the meaning of that word?"

The two non-human women stared themselves down – at least Lisa did, since she was way taller than Alice -, and the tension was palpable. Lisa was mad, to say the least. Her hands shook slightly, her temper flaring at the vampire's insinuation that she would hurt Bella. As for Alice, she didn't know the girl, and why she smelled like _that_ , she hadn't even seen her with Bella.

"Guys, relax, _please_." Bella interrupted the moment, staring at both of them. It took a second before they did, and Alice was the first to break eye contact with Lisa, looking over at Bella.

"You know, I've never met anyone more prone to life- threatening idiocy." Alice commented, and for a moment, Lisa agreed with her, but she didn't voice it, _of course._

"Let's…sit. We have to talk, I guess."

Alice nodded, and they went to the couch. Lisa stood there awkwardly, not really knowing what to do; she knew Bella probably wanted to talk privately with the vampire, at the same time, Lisa wasn't comfortable with the idea of leaving them alone. Thus, she decided she would make some tea for Bella, to help with the sore throat and all.

In the kitchen, she could still hear perfectly the conversation between them. They started talking about _Edward_ , but Alice didn't feel like sharing a lot with Bella, so she changed the subject by pointing out, not very discreetly, the _god awful dog smell_ she had on her, which instantly made Lisa grit her teeth in annoyance.

 _As if you smell that good,_ she thought, huffing in annoyance. She took the two cups of tea she had made – one for Bella, the other for her -, and went back to the room just in time to hear Alice telling Bella that "Werewolves are not good company to keep,"

"First, I'm _not_ a werewolf. Second, at least we've never tried to eat her," she retorted calmly, handing Bella the tea. "Drink this; it's for your throat."

"Thanks, Lis." The brunette smiled gratefully.

The tension in the room was palpable; Bella sipped her tea slowly, eyeing both of her friends – a vampire _and_ a wolf -, while they pretended they didn't exist. Lisa also sipped on her tea, looking at the carpeted floor as if it were the most interesting thing in the world, while Alice stared at Bella.

"So," Bella decided to break the awful and uncomfortable silence instated in her living room. "How did you see me?"

Alice sighed, rolling her eyes. "I wasn't keeping tabs on you, I swear, Bella. It's just that I'm already attuned to you… when I saw you jumping, I didn't think, I just got on a plane. I knew I would be too late, but I couldn't do _nothing_. And then I get here, thinking maybe I could help Charlie somehow, and you drive up."

"Not weird _at all_ ," Lisa muttered to herself. Neither Bella nor Alice paid attention to her.

"I saw you go into the water and I waited and waited for you to come up, but you didn't. What happened?"

"Jake pulled me out," Bella answered, shrugging like it was nothing. "You didn't see that?"

Alice shook her head slowly, a thoughtful look on her face. "Who's _Jake_?"

"A… _friend_ ," Bella sent Lisa a brief look. "Jacob Black, he's from La Push."

"I see," she nodded slowly. "That doesn't explain why I didn't see you, though."

Before Bella could say anything to answer, said boy barged in her home, his dark eyes frantic while his arms shook slightly. He looked around, stopping in Bella's figure.

"I came in as soon as you messaged," he was talking to Lisa, but his eyes didn't leave Bella. Then, he slowly turned to Alice, eyes darkening even more when he took a threatening step towards her. "Who is _this_?"

" _This_ is Alice Cullen," said vampire stood up, crossing her arms over her chest. "Damn it, Bella, _another_ werewolf?!"

"Ok, that's enough, guys!" this time, Bella stood up, already tired of all the tension going around. "I'm fine, Jake, and they're my friends, Alice, so _please_ don't be rude."

Jacob and Alice stared at each other for another moment, before they finally relented.

"What are you doing here, anyway, Jake? Aren't you supposed to be at the hospital?" Bella asked, sitting back down on the couch.

"Lisa sent me a message saying there was a vampire here, so I'd to come and make sure you were ok," he explained.

"I'm not gonna hurt her," Alice said, sounding offended. Jacob just rolled his eyes.

"No, you're just a harmless Cullen." He said sarcastically. "I'm talking about the other _bloodsucker_ who tried to kill Bella because of _you_."

Alice's eyes widened, and she turned back to Bella. "Victoria?"

"Yeah, Victoria's been around." Bella answered.

"Don't forget the other..." Lisa added, sending Alice a look.

"But…I didn't see her," Alice muttered, another thoughtful look on her face. "And what other?"

"Laurent." Bella said simply.

"Gosh…" she shook her head, sitting down on the arm chair. "How did I _not_ see that?" she wasn't talking to anyone but herself; there was a deep frown on her pale face while she was thinking. A second later, her eyes snapped at Jacob and Lisa. "It's _you!_ I can't see Bella past you and your pack of _mutts,_ "

In a second, both Jacob and Lisa grounded their teeth, and Alice snarled.

"You better watch your fucking mouth, _leech_ ," Jacob howled, eyes livid with anger. "Or things might get _very_ ugly."

"Stop! Come on!" Bella got between them, exasperated. "Can't you just _stop_? This is ridiculous."

Tired of all that crap going on, Lisa shook her head. "I need a cigarette,"

When she got outside, the cool night breeze soothed her nerves a little; she went to her car to get her pack of cigarettes and once she had them, she lighted one. It'd been a long time since she had last smoked, about a month or so, but as soon as the smoke hit her lungs, she sighed in pleasure.

It was all too much. Bella and her problems; the vampires going around like it was nothing… she felt as if she had suddenly been pulled into a _goddamn_ soap opera. She took a puff of the smoke, staring at the dark, cloudy sky.

 _What is gonna happen now?_ She wondered.

A minute or so later, the vampire also got out from the house. Lisa and she exchanged a look, analyzing each other from head to toe. Lisa slowly blew a circle of smoke, challenging the vampire to do _anything_ , anything at all that might upset the wolf girl. Alice wasn't a tall vampire, nor was she tick with muscles; the girl barely touched Lisa's shoulders, and she was skinny and looked like a creepy fairy by the way she bounced on her feet – she was _no_ treat to Lisa. Yet, she came towards her.

They stood in silence for a _long_ moment, both listening to what was going on inside the house with Jacob and Bella. It was just impossible not to listen. Thus, both were very curious.

Lisa knew that Jacob was head over heels for Bella, but she wasn't sure what the brunette felt for the young wolf. She knew Bella _felt_ something more than friendship towards him. Was she going to act upon it, though? That was a mystery.

"Sorry about earlier."

Lisa snapped her head to the small vampire standing a few feet away from her. Alice was looking at her with a frown on her pretty face, but she seemed _honest_.

"I had no right to talk to you like that," she continued, sighing. "We don't need to be enemies…"

"Honestly?" Lisa turned to look at her, serious. "I'm not sure if I like you _or_ your family. I sure as hell don't like Edward," she spat the name as if it was poisonous. "You hurt Bella pretty bad, y'know? And you left her here _alone_ , with a vampire after her?"

"I know," Alice said so quietly that it was difficult even for Lisa to hear. "It's just… so hard. She's just a _human_ , fragile and…" she gulped, shaking her head. "We thought that it was the best option, so she could move on, you know."

Lisa scoffed, rubbing out the cigarette with her fingers. "She was a _wreck_ when I met her. So obviously it didn't work."

"Obviously," Alice agreed.

Again, they stayed in silence.

"Is he coming back?" Lisa asked after a moment.

"I don't know," the vampire answered, shrugging.

They didn't talk again after that, each concentrated in their own thoughts. Out of the blue, though, Alice stiffed, before she ran into the house. Lisa followed her quickly, not understanding the sudden reaction.

"Bella! It's Edward!" she almost yelled, her eyes wide. "He thinks you're dead. Rosalie told him why I came here,"

Bella's eyes snapped at Jake, who was shaking like a leaf against the wind. Seeing this, Lisa ran towards him, holding his arm.

"Why would you…Why didn't you let me speak to him?" the brunette yelled, getting into Jacob's face. His response was to shake even harder.

"He didn't ask for you, _"_ the wolf snapped, and Lisa pulled him with strength so he would back off.

"Bella, Bella!" Alice turned to her, frantic. "He's going to the Volturi. He wants to die, too"

"No, no," Bella was already crying, shaking her head desperately. "We have to go to him. We have to stop him!"

"I don't know where he is right now but…" her eyes glazed over, like she was spacing out. "Maybe we can get to him if we leave _now._ "

"What?" Both Lisa and Jacob snapped.

"Yes, yes. Let's go." Bella ran to her room without sparing anyone a glance. Lisa went after her.

Once there, she started to open her drawers to take clothes and throw them on her bed. Alice got there too, helping her to arrange everything faster with her vampire speed.

"Bella, what the hell?! You're not seriously thinking of going to _wherever_ without even thinking twice?" Bella didn't even listen to her. That made Lisa _mad_. "Bella!" she yelled, taking the girl's arm. "I'm not letting you do this."

"It's not your decision to make," Bella spat, pulling her arm out of Lisa's grasp. "I'm going,"

Lisa's mouth hang open, and she couldn't believe in her eyes.

"Fine." She said, turning around.

She was _furious!_

She went down the stairs with her hands shaking, her mind going wild, and her teeth gritting. She passed over Jacob, not even looking at him, and went to the back of Bella's house. She didn't think twice when she punched the nearest tree trunk with all force she had, cursing loudly.

" _Fucking vampires!_ " she punched again, cracking the tree.

She didn't know exactly why she was so angry; maybe it was the day's problems taking a tool on her. Her whole body shook in anger, and she continued to punch the tree, punishing the poor thing for her madness.

" _He left you, Bella_ ," she heard Jacob's voice, and also footsteps going downstairs.

" _I'm not gonna let him kill himself out of guilt_."

" _What about your dad?"_

 _"I'm 18. I'm legally free to go, and I left a note."_

 _"Please, Bella,"_ he was pleading. _"Just stay…"_

She never stopped to listen.


	11. Chapter X

After Bella left to god knows where, Lisa smoked a pack of cigarettes while Jacob sat silently at her side. They had left the Swan's residence and went inside the woods, where they could yell and get mad without people in the neighborhood looking at them like they had two heads. At the moment, Lisa was sitting on a tree branch, her eyes closed; Jacob was on the floor, staring at the sky.

"Harry died, you know," he muttered quietly.

The forest was silent; Lisa opened her eyes and looked over her friend – one of the people that mattered most to her in the moment. Jacob had silent tears flowing down his face, and seeing them made Lisa's heart break. She knew he wasn't only crying for Harry. He was crying for Bella, too.

She jumped from the tree, landing swiftly on her feet before dropping by his side. She took his head and put it on her lap, while he sobbed. She soothed him the best she could. It dawned on her that he was just a boy; Jacob was sixteen only, and was already going through hell. It wasn't fair to him. He had to grow up _too_ fast, only to find out that the world was nothing he had thought it was; that he was supposed to protect people, _his_ people, from dangerous creatures that once were only in story books or movies.

It was all too much.

They stood there for almost an hour, Lisa comforting Jacob and letting him have his moment. He had been building it up, now it was the time to let everything go.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Yes," she answered quietly, her hand still going through his hair.

"How can you stand all that crap? I've never seen you cry. You're always smiling, always happy. How?"

Lisa sighed, looking at the little stars coming out from between the heavy clouds.

"We learn after some time," she answered. "When you scar over and over again, your skin ends up getting thick to the point that only a very _deep_ wound can truly hurt you."

Jacob sniffed, looking up at her. "Will I ever be able to do that?" he sounded so much like a little boy that Lisa wanted to hug him and tell him that everything would be alright. She wanted to take the weight from his shoulders and carry it herself; she was used to it. She didn't mind.

However, that wasn't possible. Unfortunately, Jacob had to carry his own burdens.

"Of course you will."

By the time they left the woods, Lisa was feeling terribly tired and worried. They hadn't received any news from Bella, obviously, and that would probably remain that way until – or if _–_ she returned. She felt bad for fighting with the teenager and parting ways like that; it was okay for Bella to be stubborn and reckless, she was only eighteen, after all. Lisa, however, was already old enough to know that fighting didn't lead you anywhere.

She was still upset with her, of course, and she would slap the nonsense out of her if it was necessary, but she also felt that there was a possibility she would never see her again.

Jacob went back to La Push, and Lisa went home.

She took a shower and crawled into bed, sleeping as soon as she hit the soft mattress. That night she had a weird dream; she was in her wolf form, roaming through the woods, feeling all the smells and sounds around her, when she suddenly shifted back to human. She was naked, her pale skin a contrast with the greenish woods; she heard a cracking noise, and her head turned. With her enhanced vision, she saw something – or rather _someone_ – coming in her direction. She distinctly remembered that the person's smell was the most incredible smell she had ever felt. It was a mixture of pine, earth, and a distinct one that she couldn't point out. She sighed with the pleasant smell, wanting to feel more and more; she walked in the direction she was sensing it, her feet being guided by her instincts. When she got to the edge of the woods, she saw the person with his back turned.

It was a man, obviously, and he was tall, taller than her, and he was also naked – but she was too engrossed on his smell to notice that. He slowly turned around, and when she did, she gasped.

Lisa woke up with a startle, remembering everything from the dream, even the smell, but she couldn't remember _his_ face. She had certainly seen it, but now it was a black hue, indistinguishable.

"Crap," she muttered, passing her hands over her face to get rid of the doziness. It was 6AM already, so she decided to get up.

It had been a long time since she had dreamed about anything; usually she had a light sleep, because of her enhanced senses, so she wasn't used to dream. When she did, though, they were never as vivid as the one she had that night.

"Suppose I was tired," she told herself, analyzing her image on the mirror of her bathroom. She had just taken a shower and her hair was dripping wet.

She got ready for the day, making a huge breakfast and digging into the food hungrily. After that, she decided she would watch some TV, and think about _nothing_. Of course it never happened, for the moment she threw herself on the little couch she owned, her phone started ringing loudly.

"Yes?" she answered bored.

 _"Lisa? It's Charlie. Can you talk?"_

She instantly sat down, straight as an arrow. "Yea, of course." She bit her lip, waiting for him to continue.

" _So, I arrived from the Hospital last night only to find a note from Bella saying that she was with Alice Cullen and that that boy was in trouble,_ " he sighed loudly, sounding so tired that Lisa felt bad. _"Do you know where she is?"_

Lisa shook her head, even though he couldn't see it. "Sorry, Charlie, but no. I left Bella there and came home. She didn't even tell me she was going somewhere," she lied.

Again, Charlie sighed loudly and even cursed under his breath. _"Damn it. Alright, thanks, Lis."_

"Sure, if you need anything, call me." She offered, trying hard not to falter.

She stared at her phone for a moment, feeling as bad as she could for lying to Charlie about his reckless child – who, by the way, could get killed. A bald man on the TV was talking about the behavior of the elephants, and she looked over at him and his obliviousness about the world he lived in. She wished, for a moment, to be oblivious, too. To be able to live a normal life, without having to worry about monsters drinking her friend dry.

A second later, she turned the TV off, shutting down the self-deprecating thoughts she was having – they wouldn't help the least. She decided she wouldn't be able to stay there knowing that Bella could be _anywhere_ suffering, and that she probably was in a dangerous situation.

She grabbed her green jacket, pulled on her combat boots and took the keys to her car. Without thinking twice, she went straight to the place she was used to going every day.

 _La Push._

* * *

Things in the Quileute reservation were not very _good._ Harry Clearwater, one of the tribe's elder and most respected member, had died in the dawn of a heart attack. According to Jake, they had tried to do what they could, but Harry already had many problems with his heart, and that one had been fatal. He told her that the shock of seeing a vampire had been too much for him, and as soon as they left after Victoria, the attack started.

Lisa's eyes filled at this, remembering clearly the moment he had dropped to the floor. He had been unfortunate, caught at the wrong time, at the wrong place.

It wasn't _fair_.

He left a wife and two kids – Seth and Leah -, as well as all the people from the tribe who loved and respected him. They made a beautiful funeral to him, Billy speaking up about his life and achievements as an elder; Lisa felt a little like an intruder, but no one looked at her like that. She hugged Sue and told her she was sorry; the beautiful woman, in return, thanked her for _everything_ she had been doing. Since Harry died, Sue would take his place as an elder, thus she knew everything that was happening already.

Then, Lisa went to talk to Seth, the young boy who she had seen only a couple of times in the rez and that was always smiling brightly. Even then he had a small, sad smile on his boyish face; he was about her weight, too tall for his age and face. They hugged, and again she said she was sorry. When she got closer to him, she felt what she had been too distracted to notice.

His smell.

Her eyes grew in size when they separated.

Seth realized what had happened, but didn't say anything. The smile on his face remained, though his cheeks were marked with two trails of tears.

Lastly, she got closer to Leah. She had met the girl _once_ , and they hadn't talk a lot back then. Leah was a very beautiful young woman, her skin tanned, her hair long, shiny and black as coal; her lips were full, and at the moment were pulled downwards. Her black eyes were also hard, piercing through anyone who _dared_ to look at her. Differently from Seth and Sue, Leah didn't smile not even once. Her voice was monotonous when she answered her, and she didn't even bother to look at her fully in the eye.

Lisa didn't mind, though. Just like Seth, she also felt Leah's scent. It was clear to her, then, that La Push had two new wolves. She went back to Jacob's side, sending him a pointed look.

After the funeral, they had a small feast where everyone talked quietly to each other while eating something – food always managed to warm the heart at moments like those. Lisa stuck to Jacob and Embry, not really in the mood to talk as she munched over her hot dog thoughtfully. The two boys, though, talked the whole time.

"Man, I still can't believe this happened." Embry commented with a sad look. "I'd seen him just in the morning,"

"Yeah, I know." Jacob agreed. "Now Leah and Seth…"

Embry shook his head. "That'll be hard,"

"I don't want to be on Sam's skin when he gives Leah the talk," Jacob sighed, and Lisa pinched him. "Ouch, what was that for?"

"Don't be a _bitch_ ," she said, biting the rest of the hot dog. Jacob just rolled his eyes.

"It's…weird, Lis," Embry decided to continue the conversation. "It's the first time a _woman_ phased. Like, ever."

"What?" she quirked one eyebrow before acknowledgement dawned on her. "So that's why there weren't any girls…"

"Yea, we thought only men had the genes." He shrugged.

"Well, it won't be easy for her, our body changes a lot." Lisa commented, sighing when she remembered her own phasing when she was a teen. "Maybe I can talk to her…? A wolf girl talk?" she offered, feeling emphatic towards the girl who not only had lost her father, but also turned into a wolf unexpectedly.

Jacob and Embry shared a brief look, and from across the field, they could see that Sam looked in their direction as well; almost imperceptibly the Alpha nodded his head.

"I guess that's ok," Jacob said, in the end.

Lisa nodded, eyeing the girl besides her mother once again; her eyes shifted around, landing on the only other white person at the feast – Charlie Swan. He had a sad look on his face while he talked quietly to Billy. As Lisa had found out, Charlie had been in the woods as well, and it was him who had brought Harry to the hospital. The man had his arms crossed, his eyebrows raised and his lips downwards.

She felt bad. Not only did he lose one of his closest friends, but his crazy, reckless daughter had left leaving only a note behind to tell him _not_ to worry. And all because her vampire was trying to kill himself because of a freaking misunderstanding.

 _As if he wasn't dead already_ , she thought bitterly. Charlie's dark eyes found hers, and he waved her over. She went there with a small, sad smile on her face.

"Lis, sorry I didn't talk to you earlier," he told her as soon as she got there. "I got here a little late because…well, because my daughter disappeared."

Lisa felt Billy's eyes over her figure. "I'm sorry, Charlie. I'm sure she's fine," no, she wasn't, but she wouldn't tell him that. Much had happened already. To _everybody_.

"When she comes back, I'll ground her for a month." His eyebrows knitted while he huffed. "All because of that Edwin guy. It's the second time she does something like that."

Lisa stifled a smirk by his mistake on Edward's name, and focused on the last piece of information. "The second?"

"Oh, she didn't tell you?" Lisa shook her head, and he continued. "Once they had a fight and she _left_ , wanting to go back to Phoenix. She was so angry that she left in the middle of the night, and I couldn't stop her. _Tsc_ , I wanted to kill that boy after that."

"She came back all hurt, right?" Billy interrupted, sending Lisa a pointed look. Charlie nodded.

"Broken leg, a concussion…Typical Bella, really." He sighed and shook his head. "She fell out of a goddamn window,"

"What?" Lisa was surprised; Bella had never mentioned something like that before.

"Yea, and then she came back with them. Dr. Carlisle and his wife had gone after her and brought her back. They were able to talk some sense into her."

"Oh," Lisa and Billy shared another look. "Then she and… _Edwin_ went back together?"

"Pff, yes." Charlie didn't like Edward that much, she realized, and she absolutely shared the feeling. "She had this crazy obsession over him. You saw how she was, and that's because you didn't see her when he left. She was depressed for months, I had to get her out of her room to _shower_ , other way she wouldn't."

"Gosh. That's not normal…" Lisa agreed; worry started flowing into her like waves. Now she was regretting letting Bella go so easily. Not that she would've been able to stop her anyway. Bella was stubborn as a mule.

"It's not." Charlie nodded.

"Let's hope he never comes back then," Billy ended the conversation, and in the back of her mind, Lisa hoped, too.

After talking to Charlie and Billy, Sam called Lisa over him. She greeted Emily, giving her a hug and saying sorry, since she found out Harry was her uncle. Then, she followed Sam to a place far enough from the place where people were gathered, near a small, green house – The Clearwater's house.

"What's up?" she asked when they stopped, looking at him with expectation. The Alpha stared at her with his dark, penetrating eyes, as if deciding if he could trust her or not.

In the end, he decided he could. "I wanted to talk to you about… Leah."

"Oh… yes."

"I don't know if Jacob told you…" he took a deep breath, as if struggling to talk. Lisa frowned, not understanding the reaction. "Anyway, I'm new to this, too. We've never had women shifting, so we don't know what's gonna happen."

"Embry told me," he nodded. "Well, we're obviously different in some ways… But I don't think the shifting process is all that different."

"Yea, I don't think so either." He sighed again, looking over Lisa's head to something and then back to her. "What…changed? In you, I mean."

"Mhm…" Lisa started thinking about the whole process she had to go through when she was in puberty. It was true that she was born a wolf, and she could willingly shift ever since she was just a kid, but when puberty hit her, everything changed. "Well, I didn't have my period as human girls had. I guess this is the only different thing in the whole process, the rest was pretty much similar to human puberty."

"I see,"

"Look, Sam, she'll be fine, alright? I mean maybe it'll take some time for her to get used to everything, but eventually she'll be okay with it." Sam hesitantly nodded. Lisa didn't understand why the leader of the pack, a person who never hesitated to say or do anything, seemed so frightened about the new wolf in his pack.

She wouldn't ask, though. She wasn't intimate enough with him for that.

"After the feast, we'll meet at her house. I'll talk to them; you can come, too."

* * *

Lisa had never been to the Clearwater's place before; she knew where it was, the green, wooden house that wasn't that far from Jacob's, with the blue truck that was always parked in front of it. Inside the house was very simple but homey; there was a small living room with a big leather couch and a TV. Sue led them to sit on the couch, and went to the kitchen to prepare some coffee.

The silence that fell was uncomfortable and awkward. Seth looked confused and frightened, and Leah looked… _angry_. She was shaking slightly with her arms crossed over her chest. She glared daggers at Sam, who was looking at her as if he was sorry for everything bad that happened in her life.

The tension was palpable.

"Here you are," it seemed that everyone was relieved when Sue came back with a tray full of mugs of coffee. Then she sat next to Leah.

"Thanks, Sue." Sam finally spoke, taking one of the mugs; he didn't drink the hot liquid inside it, though. "Seth, _Leah_ , I'm here to help you understand what happened."

Sam started to tell the story of the tribe, the fact that due to appearance of vampires in the region, some people would awaken the gene of the wolf, becoming a shifter. He told them the whole thing; even if they already knew the stories they had considered only silly legends, now they were hearing with a different perspective. At the end, Seth's eyes were wide as saucers; Leah only frowned, a dark look over her face.

"It's _not_ simple to take it all in, we know." The alpha said, shaking his head. "Now you're part of our pack as protectors of the tribe."

"What if I don't _want_ to be part of it?" Leah's voice was filled with anger. Sue sent her a warning look, which she ignored. "I didn't _ask_ for this," she pointed to herself. "I don't _want_ this shit!"

She stood up abruptly, her whole body shaking.

"Leah, calm down!" Sam commanded, also standing up. It made her even madder, the fact that _he_ was telling _her_ to calm down.

"Calm down? How do you expect me to calm down?!" she yelled, getting straight to his face. The other wolves, who had been quietly watching, moved forward, seeing that she was disrespecting their leader.

"Leah, enough!" Sue held her daughter wrist, turning her around forcefully. "It's not their fault, you know that."

The brunette pulled her arm away, shaking her head. She stepped away from her mother, feeling the same sensation of when she first turned when she found out her father had died. Then, she turned around and ran away from the house, leaving everyone behind with wide eyes.

Lisa had watched the whole ordeal quietly, not wanting to intrude; it wasn't her pack, after all, and she didn't even know Leah all that well. In fact, the only things that she knew the two of them had in common were the fact that both were women and both could turn into wolves.

Sam sat back down, his head hanging low; it was the first time Lisa had seen him like that – so hopeless.

"Sorry, Sam…" Sue started, shaking her head. "She'll come around,"

"It's all my fault." He muttered, passing one big hand over his face. "She hates me."

"You know that's not true." Sue retorted, a fond look on her beautiful face. Then, she turned to Lisa, smiling a little. "Lisa, do you think maybe you can share your experience with her? Woman to woman? It may be better than a man trying to tell her what she's feeling."

Lisa smiled, besides feeling a bit nervous inside. She stood up, nodding. "Sure, I'll try."

She walked out of the house and started to go after Leah's trail; it wasn't difficult to find her, she went all the way down to the pier. Lisa stopped walking, not really knowing how to approach the girl. She could hear Leah's hard breath, she was probably still trying to calm down, and it was never good to poke the bear when it was still angry. So she decided to wait.

Leah, though, sensed her presence. "What do you want?" her voice was snappy and she didn't even spare a glance towards Lisa.

The blonde, then, took a deep breath, walking slowly towards her. Leah shot her a warning look over her shoulder, and instantly Lisa stopped, raising her arms in surrender.

"I'm just here to talk,"

Leah scoffed and turned around again. She didn't deny Lisa's presence, though, neither sent her away, so that was a good sign. Lisa sat down next to her, staring at the beautiful gray ocean in front of them.

They stayed in silence for a long time, but it wasn't necessarily uncomfortable. Finally, Lisa decided it was time to say something.

"I'm a wolf, too, you know."

"I can smell it," Leah answered right away, as if it was obvious. "Are you part of the pack, too?"

"No."

"Mhmm,"

A couple of minutes passed before either one of them spoke again. "How are you feeling?" Lisa asked quietly, tentatively.

"How do you think?" she snapped, laughing bitterly. "My dad died yesterday and my little brother and I turned into freaking wolves. Just peachy."

Besides the tension, the right side of Lisa's mouth went up a bit. "I know it's a lot to take in… Ok, fuck that." She shook her head, feeling that the "I understand you" speech wouldn't work with the newest wolf in Sam's pack. Leah turned to her with a perfectly shaped eyebrow quirked. "You're a wolf now, and besides the whole "I have to protect my tribe" stuff, it's also pretty amazing. You can run faster, you're stronger, hell, you don't even get fat because your organism burns calories like it's nothing. So it's not only bad things."

Leah scoffed. "Good to know."

"You don't need to be such a bitch about it, y'know." She said, looking over at the brunette. "Have you ever heard the saying "Shit happens so get over it"? It applies perfectly here."

Contrary to all Lisa was expecting from the girl sitting next to her, Leah chuckled a bit. Lisa looked over her briefly, also smiling a little.

"Nice pep talk. You should try to be professional."

Lisa rolled her eyes, smirking. "Already am."

They stayed there for fifteen minutes, in silence, only staring at the sea. Lisa didn't feel like intruding even more, so she left the girl be. At least she wasn't angry anymore; she just had a sad look on her face, and Lisa felt sorry for her. Leah was still young, her brother even younger, and they already had to suffer such a loss like losing a father. She realized the girl sitting beside her was just _lost_ and broken, much like she had been once in her life _._

Later that evening, Lisa returned home alone. She went straight to bed, but she couldn't sleep right away. She stood there, staring at her ceiling, listening to the noises coming from outside. Her house, though, was as silent as a graveyard.

She hoped Bella and Jake were there to keep her company. She had gotten used to them hanging around all the time; now, Bella was god knows where, and Jake had too much on his plate and needed some time to himself after all that had happened. Thus, Lisa was left alone, lost in her own thoughts, trying very hard not to feel suffocated in the silence of her own home.

She tossed and turned, but still she couldn't close her eyes.

In the end, she stood up and decided to take a walk; shifting, she let her instincts guide her through the forest with no destiny in mind.

* * *

Three days passed after Bella left with the vampire called Alice, after Harry Clearwater passed away and his children phased into wolves. Three days and Lisa was feeling like there were hands around her throat squeezing it so she wouldn't breathe; Bella hadn't called or texted her or Jacob once, and they were totally at loss of what had happened to her. After one day, Lisa was already regretting the way they parted ways, dreading that something bad had happened to her best friend.

To make things worse, Charlie also hadn't heard from her. Honestly, Lisa would _kill_ Bella if she was alive… and if she returned for not telling them where she was.

She sighed when she got up that day, feeling her head heavy and a lack of will to do anything.

 _Another sleepless night_ , she thought, passing a hand over her face. It was Wednesday, and she had to go to school. Needless to say, she wasn't feeling excited about it, since school without Bella was pretty lame. It didn't prevent her from going, though, since her education was important to her; also, it happened to be a good distraction. She took her shower, as usual, pulled on her clothes, prepared her breakfast and left.

It was raining heavily, not that she really cared about that. Forks and rain were synonyms, after all. When she got to Forks High School, she parked her car in her usual space, and, seeing she was early, she decided to have a morning smoke. She opened the window to circulate some air around the car, turned her music louder and rested her head while talking puffs of smoke.

" _Don't need reason, don't need rhyme. Ain't nothin' that I'd rather do_ " she sang softly along the song, bouncing her head up and down. Listening to music relaxed her more than almost anything, specially the old school rock she used to like.

The song was almost over, as was her cigarette, when she heard tires screeching on the parking lot. The engine was smooth, and she opened her eyes to check who was coming. What was her surprise when she saw a shiny silver Volvo, one that she had never seen before around, being followed by a dark green Jeep Wrangler. Instantly the cars caught her attention, she was a mechanic after all, but the thing that made her mouth drop open and her eyes widen was _who_ was leaving the car.

Bella Swan, looking as if _nothing_ had happened in the last couple of days, got out from the car; at her side, a thin and lanky _vampire_ with messy bronze hair and looking like a teenager took her hand and smiled at her so lovingly that it made Lisa's stomach turn.

 _What the actual fuck?!_ she screamed mentally, not really believing her eyes.

There she was, all worried about her _friend_ , thinking she might be dead or worse, and there she was. Three days with almost no sleep worrying about her; three days with her and Jacob discussing what they could do to find Bella if she never returned.

Three. Fucking. Days. With. No. Fucking. News.

Lisa couldn't believe it.

In a second, she opened her door, stepping out of the car _seeing_ red. She closed the door with force, doing it to call Bella's attention. Sure enough, the brunette looked over at her, as did the vampire. In four long strides, she came closer to them, looking pissed off as she never had before.

"Are you fucking kidding me, Bella?" she pretty much growled, so angry she was. Bella's eyes widened and the vampire stood in front of her protectively, his golden eyes shining dangerously towards Lisa. She ignored him completely. "Three fucking days! You didn't call, didn't send a _goddamn_ message, what the hell?!"

"Lis-" Bella tried to speak, but Lisa interrupted her raising a hand.

"Oh, no, miss. I don't wanna hear it." She shook her head, closing her hands into fists at her sides. "You know how worried we've been? Charlie? Jake? We thought you were _dead_!" she took one step closer to her by instinct, and then the vampire decided that he had all the right to intervene.

"You'd better back off," he snarled, almost baring his teeth at her. She eyed him, then, seeing that he wasn't that taller than her and didn't have lots of muscles.

 _Not a fighter_ , she thought after a brief once over. He frowned at her, his brows knitting together creating shadows on his eyes. It was supposed to be frightening, Lisa, though, had already seen enough vampires in the past few months to be _afraid_ of him. So she got to his face, staring him straight in his yellowish eyes.

"Who the _fuck_ are you?" of course she already knew the answer, but she asked just to annoy him.

"Lis, it's Edward!" Bella stepped away from his back, coming to stay beside them looking at them with her eyes wide.

"So you're the bloodsucker who _abandoned_ Bella here to suffer?!" Edward brow twitched, she had certainly hit a nerve.

"I did it for her own good –" Lisa scoffed loudly, interrupting him.

"Oh, please. Spare me of your _pathetic_ excuses!" she spat, getting even closer to him to the point they were now almost touching chests. If anyone saw them from a distance, they'd have thought they were ready to kiss or something like that, so close and intently staring at each other as they were. The tension was palpable; Lisa started to shake, the sickly smell coming from him making her irritated, and low growl started building deep inside her – Edward certainly could hear it, and it made him become more defensive.

"Lisa, please, stop it." Bella pleaded, putting a hand on her arm despite the danger of the situation. "I'm fine, nothing bad happened to me."

"I can see that," Lisa spat, before turning to look down on Bella. She was perfectly normal, her hair all shiny, her face flushed, happiness radiating from her. "At least you didn't come like one of _them._ "

"Watch your mouth, _mutt_!" Edward growled at her, not liking the way she was snapping at Bella.

"Or what? Do you wanna a fight right here, _leech?_ 'Cause I'll be glad to attend your wishes," again they stared each other down, completely forgetting where they were, and who was right beside them.

"Hey, is everything alright?" they didn't turn to look at Alice, who had appeared out of thin air next to them, a cautious expression on her face. "People are starting to watch…" that managed to catch Edward and Lisa's attention.

They looked around in an instant, seeing that yes, they were making a scene and everyone had stopped to watch – teenagers were eager for a fight, of course, especially one with no one less than a Cullen. Lisa clenched her jaw, breathing deeply to calm herself down. She wasn't going to lose control, but she sure as hell was angry. And if she was being completely honest, she was a bit _hurt_ , too. After all, the only reason she was standing there, staring a vampire down, was Bella, who she had considered a friend, but didn't even have the decency to call her to tell she had arrived home after three days MIA.

She looked over at the brunette, a disappointed look on her face. "You shouldn't have done that, Bella." She shook her head, before turning around.

She was going to leave, go to her class and try to forget about everything that had happened there. She wasn't in the mood to even look at Bella, or the vampires hanging at her side like freaking shadows.

She'd have just left; however, fate had some weird ways to do its work.

Her eyes passed through a worried Alice, who was standing right next to another vampire. Slowly, Lisa's dark eyes turned to him, and then at that moment the world seemed to stop. Her breath caught on her throat as her eyes clashed with his; they were golden, the most beautiful color she had ever seen. He had soft, curly hair that came all the way down his neck, standing over his broad shoulders; his nose was small, his lips red and partly full, and she wished she could kiss them with all her might, until they both forgot who they were. He was tall, taller than her by a foot, his body was lean, but the hard, flexed muscles could be seen through his gray sweater.

His _smell_ , though, was what made her almost buckle to her knees and beg him to be with her forever. It was the most delicious she had ever felt in her life; it was sweet, but not the annoyingly unsavory scent most vampires had. Oh, no. His was a mixture of pines, earth, rain… and also a bit of a savage smell that picked her nose and soothed her senses. It was the smell she should feel for her wolf _mate_ , the one who was supposed to be with her for the rest of her live as a partner and lover.

He wasn't a wolf, though. Not even _human_. He was a vampire.

A vampire.

Her heart was beating wildly in her chest, like a bomb ready to explode. Her throat constricted, her body shook, the animal inside of her asking to take over, to claim him to her, to make him _hers_.

 _So beautiful…_ she thought, dreamily, her mouth slightly open.

Life for her made sense at that moment; why she had felt the pull to come to Forks, why she had befriended Bella of all people in that school, why Bella had to go wherever, to bring this family, to bring _him_ back to where he belonged.

At her side. With her.

She felt inside her body the way the strings of her heart flowed in his direction, the way her body called for him as if extended arms were trying to bring him to her. She needed to feel him, to see if he was real. She took a tentative step forward, her hand rising slightly to touch him, to feel him under her fingertips.

Before she could touch him, though, another hand came flying in her direction, together with a low growl; it seemed to snap her from her daze, and she blinked to see that the person holding her barely reached her shoulder, and yet she wasn't afraid of her, nor the fact that she could overpower her easily. The freezing hands in contrast with her body made Lisa feel unusually cold, and she wanted to pull her wrist out of the grasp.

Alice Cullen stared at her with fierce golden eyes and a frown that was supposed to make her look dangerous; Lisa wasn't afraid, though. She shifted her eyes to look at the reason for her existence once again, meeting his wide, suddenly darkened eyes; he was being hidden by Alice, who was standing in front of him protectively, not letting Lisa get _any_ closer.

It made Lisa want to snap Alice right away. Her whole body started shaking like it never did, and she was losing control without even realizing it. Her dark irises became red, her teeth started to extend, and she would turn into a wolf right there, only because Alice was stopping her from getting closer to her _mate_.

"She's losing her temper," she heard Edward Cullen say, but it was only an echo in the back of her mind. She was growling now, getting louder and louder by the second. Soon the humans around them watching the ordeal with curiosity would notice. "Jasper, calm her. Calm her now! Alice, step back!"

The smaller vampire did as she was told, though she was also growling a little in defense. Suddenly, Lisa felt a wave of _delicious_ calmness invade her, making her head light, almost as if she had just used the most addictive drug in the world.

Her eyes turned back to their usual color, and she stopped shaking. She was confused though, and blinked her eyes a couple of times. Then, when her rational side came back, it dawned on her the seriousness of the situation. She had finally found her soul mate; the one that was supposed to be together with her forever, the one with whom she could have a family and live happily ever after, the one that had been created for her, and she for him.

Except there was a problem.

Because he was a vampire.

He was a vampire.

A vampire.

And she was a wolf.

They were legendarily known for being immortal enemies. One created to get rid of the other; opposite strengths.

 _Fuck_ , she thought, shaking her head from side to side, her eyes wide as saucers as she watched him.

He was looking down to the floor, his face placid while he held Alice's hand in a firm grip.

"Lis? Are you ok?" the sound of Bella's voice was distant, as if they were far away from each other.

Her throat constricted, it _burned_ , and she felt once again the wolf getting the best of her just by watching him _together_ with Alice. She took a step backwards; her eyes still stuck to the figure of the vampire that had unceremoniously made her lose her rationality, her _control_ , something that she always felt proud of, in a matter of seconds.

"I-I have to go," she sputtered, turning around in a flash that didn't look human at all, and going to wherever her feet carried her. She didn't care.

 _Fuck, fuck, fuck!_


	12. Chapter XI

When Lisa was sixteen, she had her heart broken for the first time. She had been dating stupid-ass Dwight for five months, and she was sure he was the love of her life. It was that kind of passion that was easily mistaken by love, and after one week dating, they were already telling each other about the love they felt for one another. He had been her first; her first kiss, first time having sex, and it would only make sense that he was her first heart break, too.

She distinctly remembered the scene of her going to his place, all happy that they would get to spend the whole evening together, since his parents weren't at home, so they would have the house for themselves. Lisa had planned to make a romantic dinner for him, the kind that they would never have in normal circumstances, because Dwight just didn't like all that "girly" stuff that hurt his masculinity so badly; after the dinner, they would watch some movie and then, in the middle of the movie, they would make out on his couch. She had put on her best clothes _and_ lingerie, put on some body lotion and perfume, even make up, which she wasn't used to wear frequently.

Lisa heard the moans before even stopping her car in front of his house; at first, she thought it was coming from one of the neighbors; after all, Dwight lived in a pretty crowded neighborhood. However, as soon as she got out from the car, she realized that she was wrong.

The smell of sweat and sex was a slap to her face, specially _his_ smell, the one she knew so clearly. Sure enough, when she entered the house, already shaking with anger, she saw him and that girl, Lucy, banging each other on the same couch they had slept together so many times.

The evening didn't end well when Lisa, with all her anger, kicked Dwight's ass into oblivion since with her wolf genes, she was way stronger than him. He never stood a chance; Lucy ran away from the house, never looking back at the man who was having his ass served to him by his _girlfriend_ , and Lisa never bothered to go after her.

After that, she entered her car, shaking as a leaf and trying hard _not_ to lose control. At that point, she already had a good grip on her shifting abilities, enough that she didn't shift anytime someone pissed her off – which was rather frequent.

She remembered staying up all night crying – because she had feelings, after all -, and listening to a _Whitesnake_ CD. One of the songs, _Looking for love,_ had her crying even harder, particularly when David Coverdale sang " _I'm looking for love all around me, Looking for love to surround me"_ , which was exactly how she was feeling at the moment.

Looking for love, that's what Lisa had been doing during her teen age. As cheesy as it may sound, the girl never had much love from her parents or family, so she always searched for it in failing relationships, putting too much hope into one person who normally wasn't worth it.

Anyway, a week after she broke up with Dwight, she started dating Jax, then Luke, and a bunch of others until she was condemned to stay with Holland. After years of disappointments, Lisa finally accepted that love wasn't something for her. She would never find her soul mate, and she was okay with it.

Until, of course, the moment she set her eyes on the blonde vampire.

She was speeding through Forks, her mind wondering widely around everything that had happened in that Wednesday morning. Her fingers gripped the steering wheel of her car so hard that it was starting to brand the leather; her heart bumped loudly against her rib cage and her breathing was irregular.

And all that because of a man. A vampire man, no less.

The figure of that pale, beautiful face came back to her mind – his honey, curly locks; golden eyes, amazing lips, strong jaw, his lean, muscular body and _scent_ -, it all made her throat constrict, and the need to turn back and claim him to her was strong. It really felt like there he was a magnet and she was a simple piece of metal attracted to him.

That feeling had never happened to her before; she knew it, though, from stories and legends told to her when she was only a little girl. It was known that wolves had mates for their entire lives; they were social creatures, after all, and they needed to have someone at their side to breed, reproduce, and make the pack stronger. In the legends of her clan, female wolves were the ones to find and conquer their mates, since it all started with them and they were the ones able to carry and reproduce the lineage – though they could only do so with humans, just as the first wolf had done centuries back. In order to make it easier for them, Vánagandr, the wolf father, decided each wolf would have their own _hálft_ , the one that would complete them and make them stronger.

It was all legends, though, and in Lisa's clan usually the wolves only _used_ the humans to reproduce, preferring to marry and have families amongst their own kind. Therefore, she had never heard of wolves finding their mates on humans, much less on other _races_. Now, she had no idea how she would act, especially since she didn't know if the _hálft_ felt the same for her.

She was damned.

"Gosh, why?" she asked loudly, shaking her head to try and clear her mind from his image; it was no use. His handsome face would be marked forever in her mind, like a tattoo.

She wanted to cry, really. Of all places on earth she could have gone to, she just _had_ to come to the one place where she could find her mate. It had to be a joke; all she had wanted when she left her hometown, her _pack_ , was to be normal. Yet, so far, nothing had been normal in Forks, on the contrary. The more she got used to the town, the more weird things happened.

Her cellphone started ringing, but she ignored it completely. She didn't want to talk to anyone right now; she just wanted to… run.

Stopping her car on the road, she didn't even mind closing it when she entered the woods and _ran_ with all the strength and will she had; soon, she was peeling all her clothes, leaving a trail of fabric behind her before shifting into her best form. Her _true_ form.

After that, it was all a haze of trees, smells, and the cold hair caressing her white fur while she ran without caring about the way she was tracing.

* * *

Lisa returned after hours in the woods, wondering about her life and the ways things had worked so far. Needless to say, she came back to her car with no answers whatsoever; her mind was even more confused than before, but at least she was calmer and not wanting to leave everything behind anymore. She took her cellphone to see what time it was, and saw there were five missing calls from Bella. She remembered, then, the way she had left, and felt even worse for making a fool of herself in front of the vampires.

She particularly worried more about one of them.

Damn, she didn't even know his name.

Sighing, she decided to call Bella back. It was around five, so she probably had already left the school.

The phone rang two times before the brunette picked up.

 _"Finally, Lis! I've been calling you for hours…"_

Lisa rolled her eyes in annoyance. "I know the feeling," she answered sarcastically. She was still mad at her friend, even if now it was just a general feeling in the back of her mind.

 _"Sorry,"_ Bella said after ten seconds in silence. _"I...I want to see you. We need to talk. Are you home?"_

"Getting there in ten."

 _"I'll stop by."_

When Lisa pulled her car in her driveway, she was surprised that Bella was already there; the brunette was leaning on the side of the shiny Volvo that, as Lisa figured out, belonged to her vampire _boyfriend._ The blonde sighed when she saw him there, his golden eyes staring straight at her while he whispered to Bella " _be careful_ ", which honestly offended Lisa.

Bella and her had been friends for months now, and she had never hurt the brunette once – as opposite to the Cullen, since Bella had a _lot_ of scars around her body-, damn she had even helped Bella against a vampire. But there he was, acting as if Lisa was a minefield that Bella was stepping over – one wrong movement, and she would burst right at her face.

She closed her door and calmly walked towards the couple – she had already almost lost control earlier in front of that vampire, so she wouldn't repeat her mistake twice. Bella looked at her with concern marking her features, her bottom lip red from all the biting she had been doing.

"Hey," Lisa greeted, making sure she was focusing on Bella and not on the statue standing beside her. The brunette opened a small smile, relieved that her friend was back.

"Hey, Lis, can we talk?"

Lisa sighed, but nodded. They really needed to talk after all that had happened in the last couple of days, also what happened _that day_. "Of course,"

Bella, then, turned to the vampire. "You can go now…It's okay." Lisa pretended that her tone didn't bother her, but it did.

Edward suddenly stared at her, his eyes boring into hers. " _If_ anything happen, call me. I'll be here in a second,"

Lisa scoffed, her dislike for that vampire increasing by each word he uttered. "Don't you need an invitation or something to barge into someone's house?" she snapped, rolling her eyes when he frowned.

"Edward, just go. _Please_." Bella asked, holding his arm and sending him a serious look.

He nodded, but didn't leave right away. Lisa, then, grabbed Bella's arm and practically carried her to her home while the brunette waved to her boyfriend. When they finally got inside her house, she made sure to close the door while still looking at him, smirking at the look of utter dislike she saw on his face.

The feeling was _absolutely_ mutual.

After she closed the door, she and Bella stood there awkwardly staring at each other. The brunette started, once again, biting on her bottom lip, something that she used to do when she was nervous or anxious. Lisa sighed loudly, passing her hands through her face, feeling very tired of all the unnecessary drama going on between her and Bella. She just wanted to solve the situation and move on.

"So, what do you want to talk about?" she asked, moving towards her kitchen to grab something to eat; she was _starving_ after not having eaten for hours. She grabbed a bowl and her favorite cereal box.

Bella followed her, nervousness irradiating from her in waves. She sat down at the table, putting both her hands over it. "I wanted to apologize." She said quietly, looking down to the surface of the table.

"What for?"

Oh yes, Lisa wasn't going to let Bella go that easily. People might forgive her right away – her father, Jake -, but she wouldn't. Bella had done once again something incredibly selfish, negligent, and she had to know that her acts had consequences. Lisa loved her as a friend, but she was getting tired of the immature attitude coming from the girl who was eighteen already, for god's sake.

Bella looked back at her, her lips turning slightly downwards. "For the way I acted with you and Jake… Right after you took care of me," she shook her head, her face flushing all over. "Also for not letting you know I was okay. It's just…so many things happened, Lis. I don't even know where to start."

"From the beginning would be a good idea," Lisa offered, sitting right in front of Bella with her bowl and already putting a spoon full of cereal in her mouth. It was about time Bella opened up to her about everything – the Cullens, how she ended up dating a vampire _knowing_ what he was, why he left… the _scars_.

"Ok," Bella agreed, feeling relieved that Lisa at least wasn't cursing at her anymore. She realized that she owed her, the person she had begun considering as _best friend_ together with Jacob some answers and Lisa was more than willing to listen to them. So she started. "It all started with me moving in to Forks, of course. Edward's family had been living here for a couple of years, but they were still seen as 'outsiders' and they obviously stood out. So when I got to school and saw them at lunch, I was curious. They were all so beautiful, like the kind of people you only see in movies…"

Lisa rolled her eyes, though she knew that for humans, vampires were unbearably beautiful – it was part of their nature to allure their prey, after all.

"I never acted on my curiosity, though; I just watched them from afar, like most of the other people did. Edward and I were in the same Biology class, and in the first day, when I entered the class, I passed in front of the fan and Edward _smelled_ me."

She went on talking about the way Edward had tried to change classes, and when he didn't succeed, he stopped going to school altogether. According to him, it was unbearable to be close to her without wanting to kill her.

"So _romantic_ ," Lisa interrupted sarcastically, which made Bella roll her eyes.

"Anyway, he came back and started talking to me. That's how we began to get close…"

She told Lisa about the car accident and how Edward had stopped the van from hitting her in the parking lot; also when he saved her from a couple of guys that were harassing her in the street. That made Lisa think that Bella was really a magnet for trouble, and she had no idea how the girl was still alive to see the sun after so many 'adventures'.

"I guess that even though he was attracted to my blood, he couldn't stay away from me." Bella shrugged like it was normal that a vampire that wanted to drink your blood followed you around. "We started dating then. I even met the rest of his family, his _mom_ and _dad_ ,"

"What?" Lisa quirked one eyebrow in curiosity.

"The Cullens don't see themselves as only a _coven_ – they are a familly. Edward's father, well, Carlisle, was the one to change him, his wife, Esme, Rosalie and Emmett."

She didn't know who Rosalie and _Ermit_ were, but she noticed when Bella shifted uncomfortably on the chair, her eyes darting anywhere but on Lisa.

"Alice and… _Jasper_ came later and joined the family."

Lisa winced, knowing that _Jasper_ , the name Bella almost was afraid to pronounce, was the blond vampire that turned out to be her mate. She repeated the name in her mind, finding it weird and comforting at the same time. It made her remember the man who owned it, and her heart started to beat fast all over again.

Thank god Bella decided to continue her tale and snap Lisa out of her momentary daze.

"They weren't very comfortable with my relationship with Edward at the beginning, some more than others," the brunette muttered the last part, shaking her head. "But eventually they understood we were not staying away from each other."

"Okay," Lisa nodded, wrapping her mind around all the information Bella was giving her. "How did they manage to control their thirst around you, though? Isn't it something hard for a vampire to do?"

Bella smiled. "Well, they're not the usual type of vampire. They call themselves vegetarians."

"Beg your pardon?" Lisa retorted, confused as hell. This time, Bella chuckled with an amused glint in her eyes.

"They drink from animals only. According to Edward, it's not the most delicious thing in the world, but it satiates them to the point they don't need human blood."

Lisa made a sound of understanding, nodding. "That's why they have yellow and not red eyes." She mused.

"Exactly."

"It must be _amazing_ to walk around a bunch of humans with blood in their veins, hmm?" Lisa commented, putting another spoon of cereal in her mouth. She knew the Cullens went to school as a way to cloak that they were centenary, bloodsucking vampires, but she had yet to see how they acted around humans.

Bella nodded jerkily, looking away towards Lisa's window. "For _some_ of them it's more difficult…"

"Who?" she asked, ready to keep an extra eye on this person. Bella sighed, looking over at her again.

"Jasper." She whispered, almost afraid of Lisa's reaction at that small piece of information.

They stood in silence for a moment; Lisa swallowed another spoonful of cereal, thinking about _that_ little detail. Of course that of all people she could have fallen for, she had to fall for a vampire. Of course the vampire had to be the most dangerous one of the bunch. And of course that didn't change a bit the way her heart felt about him, if all it made her want to stay with him so he wouldn't do anything that he might regret later.

"Something happened before the Cullens left."

She looked over to Bella again, paying attention to the girl who had just broken their silence. Bella sighed loudly, passing a hand through her hair nervously, and Lisa could see her debating whether she should share or not what she had in her mind

The blonde, though, was full of all the secrets, so she decided to press Bella so she would tell her whatever it was that got her so anxious. "What is it, Bells?" she finally asked, keeping her focus on the brunette in front of her.

Bella sighed again, looked at the table, and shifted uncomfortably before she said anything. "Jasper tried to attack me." She said quietly, glancing back to Lisa to see her reaction.

Lisa felt her breath catch in her throat, though she remained with her face serious; Bella continued. "It was my birthday. I had asked them _not_ to make anything for me, but Alice decided she would anyway." She rolled her eyes, "Everything was going smoothly, it was quite fun, actually, until I had to open the presents. I cut my finger in one of them,"

"Shit," Lisa breathed out, her eyes wide as her imagination started to run widely. Bella, the only human in the room, leaking blood in front of a bunch of hungry vampires who hadn't drank human blood in ages, probably.

She imagined it was probably similar to putting a bag of cocaine in a room full of former drug addicts – too tempting.

"A couple of drops of blood was all it took for him," Bella shook her head, looking sad. "He lashed out, like he wasn't completely himself. Emmett and Carlisle held him while Edward tried to keep me away. Then he broke free and when he was charging at me, Edward threw me backwards. I fell onto a glass table and, of course, cut myself even deeply."

"Gosh, he made things _even_ worse," Lisa shook her head.

Bella sighed loudly, looking down at her hands again. "That incident changed everything. It was like they were suddenly aware that I could hurt myself, that I had blood in my veins." She stopped talking for a moment, and her last words came out in a low, commiserate sound. "They realized that I was a _pathetic_ little human."

Lisa stared at her for a moment, finally understanding the way Bella's mind worked. She wasn't afraid of them, she _admired_ them and despised the fact that _she_ was just a simple human, with no powers, no heightened strength, no special _gifts_ ; she was just Bella Swan, a regular girl who moved in with her father and started to live in a small town in a cold, cloudy place whilst they were amazing creatures that were beautiful, almost flawless, _indestructible_.

She romanticized them; she wished she could be like them. Bella Swan had literally a dying wish. That realization made Lisa frown, and she didn't know if she should berate with her for thinking about something as dangerous as that, or if she should give her a pep talk about her importance.

After five seconds thinking, she decided for the latter for the moment. "Bells, you know damn well that you're not pathetic, and being a human isn't a _bad_ thing."

Bella shook her head, her locks falling around her heart-shaped face while she stared back at her blonde friend. "They think I am. Even _you_ think I am."

Lisa frowned in confusion. "What are you talking about?" she asked.

"Well, I'm aware of the way you guys look at me," Bella muttered, looking down at the table again. "It really irritates me the way you act as if I could break if a strong wind passed over me; I mean, yes, I'm _still_ human, but I'm not that fragile!"

The blonde quirked one eyebrow, not missing the _still human_ part, but she decided to let it go. For now, at least. "We know you're not fragile," she said after some time. "You're an incredible person, Bella, you have a strong head on your shoulders and I admire you for that."

"But?" Bella interrupted, sounding annoyed. Lisa smirked, besides the seriousness of the situation.

"No buts," she shrugged, shaking her head. "I know that no matter what I tell you, you won't listen. You're also very stubborn,"

"I know I am." The two friends shared a smile. The amends were made, finally. "It's really bad, you know, that you all have like super strength and speed, and I'm just… _me._ I have nothing special."

"Well, I certainly didn't see you as the insecure type," Bella rolled her eyes. "C'mon, Bells, you're a human, yes, but you're not of the ordinary kind. You have a vampire as a boyfriend, for Christ sake, and two best friends who can shift into wolves, and yet you're not totally crept out."

"That's because I don't think it's weird… I actually find it very amazing that you guys exist."

Lisa forced a laugh, alarms sounding in her head. "You see, I find it very amazing that _you_ find it amazing that we exist,"

"Anyways," Bella rolled her eyes, smiling. "After they moved, I was really depressed, as you may remember. It was thanks to you and Jake that I was able to move on with my life, even if it still hurt inside." she stopped talking, getting all serious. "I'm really sorry with the way I treated you guys… It's just that… I seem to lose all sense and rationality when Edward is involved. As soon as Alice said that he was going to kill himself, I had to go. I _had_ to save him, other way I wouldn't be able to live with myself again. I don't ask you to understand but-"

Lisa interrupted her, raising her hand. "I understand. Now that you told me the whole story, it all makes sense."

 _Especially after I met my mate and felt like I could kill and be killed for him out of the sudden_ , she thought darkly.

"I don't like him, though," the blonde continued, frowning. "He should've handled things in a different way. I mean, _you're_ a teenager, but he is a freaking old man, for chrissake!"

"Hey!" Bella kicked her under the table. "Respect my old man."

"Whatever," Lisa rolled her eyes. "Tell me what the hell happened wherever you were,"

Bella, then, started to tell Lisa all about the little trip she had done to Italy, and how she met the vampire royalty called the _Volturi_. She left a small detail out of her tale, though. She didn't tell Lisa that they had requested the Cullens to turn her into a vampire so she wouldn't be considered a threat anymore. And Lisa didn't seem to notice that something was missing.

"Shit, I didn't know there was such a thing as vampire royalty," she commented when Bella finished.

"Yeah, me neither. But then again, I don't know much about vampires," the brunette shrugged. "Okay, now that I told you _everything_ there was to tell, it's your turn to tell me what the heck was that reaction with Jasper."

Lisa sighed loudly, remembering the ordeal with a little flinch, her cheeks flushing slightly. "It's called _mating_ , when you meet your mate, the person who is supposed to be with you for the rest of your life." She explained, remembering the stories of her clan, of her heritage. "It's been a legend amongst my people, and we never thought it was actually real since no one in my pack has ever found their _true_ mate. According to our legends, wolves have a _human_ counterpart, which we call _hálft_ in Icelandic. They were created for us so we would have a way to reproduce, to pass on the wolf gene instead of keeping it to ourselves, like we eventually ended up doing," she rolled her eyes.

The next part of the story she told carefully, analyzing Bella's reaction to it with cautiousness. "In my family, we married amongst each other." She winced, knowing pretty well how weird that was. "Wolves can't reproduce together, though, so we would rely on sperm _donations_ so the female wolves would get pregnant." She stopped, waiting to see what her friend would say.

The brunette looked curious, as always, but not disgusted or anything like that. For her, it was just another story of incredible creatures that were supposed to exist only in movies or books; now, she was surrounded by them. "So it's only for reproduction?" she wondered, and Lisa shook her head.

"Not really. Wolves are pretty social; we always have to be with a pack, because alone we're not very strong. Usually wolves get partners for life so they're never alone."

Bella slowly nodded, looking thoughtful for a moment; Lisa, then, started to worry that she would be finally crept out and decide that _her_ weirdness was too much to take. "Did you have one?" she blurted out, getting slightly flushed by the evident curiosity in her voice. Lisa shifted her look, apprehensive about the amount of information she could share with her friend and not reveal the whole truth of why she had left to start over her life.

It was not that she didn't trust Bella; she just didn't trust the girl's reaction to her _former_ life. It hadn't been a good one, and that's why she had left it behind in the first place. However, she also didn't want to keep dark secrets from people she considered important to her. So in the end she nodded, looking back at Bella. "I did," she said quietly.

Bella gasped in surprise, which made Lisa continue before she took the wrong conclusions. "I've never loved him, though, and it was a convenient marriage; he was in a good position in my clan, and my father wanted him as a son-in-law." She shook her head, trying to erase _his_ memory of her mind. "We…didn't get along. I hated him and he knew it."

She felt Bella's hand come over hers, squeezing it in a sign of comfort as she had often done to her on the last couple of months. "You don't need to tell me if you don't feel comfortable," she offered, smiling gently.

Lisa smiled gratefully; she indeed didn't feel like sharing those _terrible_ memories. She preferred them buried, locked away in a place no one could reach. "Anyways, I guess this whole mating thing isn't a legend," she huffed, shifting the conversation to where it had started.

Bella made a sound of understanding. "What are you going to do now?" she asked, voicing the question that had been repeating on Lisa's mind over and over again.

Finally, the blonde shrugged. "I have no idea." She answered honestly. "I just know that I _can't_ be away from him. From the legends, it physically hurts to be away from your mate after you see each other. Even now I feel as if a part of me is missing; it's really a weird feeling."

"Shit," Bella muttered, biting her lip again. "I don't mean to be a bitch, but… Alice and Jasper…they're… _together_."

Lisa winced, felling as if she had been slapped on her face; she realized that Alice and Jasper had something by the way the little _gnome_ of a vampire had reacted when she had tried to touch him. She was _territorial_ like only a mate would be, so it didn't take much to understand that they had something.

However, Lisa knew for sure that Alice wasn't his mate - she was.

She frowned, looking back to Bella. "I don't think they'll be for so long…" she said closing her hands into fists under the table, so Bella wouldn't see. "After all, if he is _my_ mate, than it only means that I am _his_ , too. So the emo Tinker Bell will have to step aside." She had a fierce look on her face that told Bella she was being serious.

The brunette gulped, not knowing what to say to that after all Alice was her friend, too. And she and Jasper had been together for years, so she could only imagine what would happen now that Lisa had found out she was his true mate.

Would he leave Alice for her? Or was the mate thing totally platonic?

Lisa seemed to be thinking the same thing by the dark look on her face. That whole situation was new to her, and she would have to think carefully about her next steps. There was only one thing she knew for sure, though.

She _wanted_ him.


	13. Chapter XII

**Hey! I'm soooo happy with all the favorites and followers this ff is getting! Thank y'all so much! 3**

 **So, here's another chapter, with a little more interaction with the Cullens.**

 **XOXO**

* * *

The girls continued talking for hours, catching up to everything that had happened in the last couple of days; Lisa told Bella about Harry's passing away, but she didn't mention the fact that Seth and Leah had phased– it was a pack secret, and she didn't feel like sharing something that wasn't hers to share in the first place. She also told her that Victoria had given them a break after she left, so they didn't have to worry about her showing up unnoticed for the moment.

In return, Bella told Lisa the rest of the story about the Volturi, and how there was a vampire who could torture people with her mind – she had tried on Bella, though, and it didn't work; she also told her a little bit more about the Cullens. Lisa was surprised to find out that Carlisle Cullen was an actual _doctor_ and a very good one at that – he was greatly respected around the Forks community, since he could have gone to any place but decided to settle in the small town; she also found out that the family was a very gifted one. She already knew that Alice could see the future, and that Edward could read minds, but to know that Jasper could control emotions around him was shocking.

It was from him, she understood, that the wave of calmness she had suddenly felt when she was almost shifting in front of the whole school came. She wondered if he had felt the way he affected her when their eyes clashed, and if he did, how did he react to that. There were many more questions about him she wanted to answer, but Bella didn't know any. As the brunette said, Jasper pretty much kept to himself around her, so she had never had a real opportunity to talk to him and listen to his story. Edward also didn't tell her anything.

Summing up, she was clueless about the vampire who was her mate. That didn't bother her, though. It only meant that she would have the opportunity to ask him and learn for herself; hear from his own, beautiful lips. She looked forward to it.

Lisa's ear perked up to the sound of a very fast car coming down her street. "Your boyfriend is coming," she interrupted Bella when she was talking about the way Rosalie Hale didn't like her, making the brunette snap her head towards the window so fast that Lisa thought her neck would break.

Bella frowned slightly, biting her lip. "Oh, yeah. I… have something to do." When Lisa raised her eyebrows with a barely concealed smirk, Bella flushed, shaking her head. "It's not like _that_. I have a meeting at his place, with his family."

"Oh, I see." Lisa nodded, standing up from her table and going to the sink to leave her dirty bowl.

Bella shifted her eyes to her figure, munching over her lip. "Actually, if you could come, I'd really appreciate it." She blurted out, making Lisa turn her head to her.

The blonde furrowed her eyebrows; the notion of being in a closed space with a bunch of vampires, even the considered _good_ ones, gave her the creeps. "What for?" she asked.

"There is an important matter to be discussed…" Bella started, shifting her gaze towards the window once again, before turning back to Lisa. "And also, it'd be good if you could tell them about Victoria, since they don't know the whole situation."

Lisa made a sound of understanding, before cleaning her throat and nodding. "Are they _all_ going to be there?" she had a slight expectant note on her voice she tried very hard to conceal, but Bella picked up immediately and smirked – the tables were turned now.

"Yes, all of them." The brunette answered with a knowing look.

It was Lisa's turn to flush, though she pretended it wasn't a big deal, shrugging it off. "Okay, then. I guess I could go."

Edward's Volvo stopped in her driveway, and both girls looked outside the window to see him getting out of the silver car with a non-human speed that would certainly raise some questions had any of Lisa's neighbors seen it, and walk towards the house; he was looking rather _tense_ with his back straight as an arrow, Lisa noticed, but it must had something to do with her presence, she thought. Lisa turned to the brunette, who was staring at Edward as if he was Jesus and she was a huge fan. It was worrisome the way Bella pretty much worshipped Edward Cullen. Lisa hopped she didn't look like that when she saw Jasper.

"Bella?" she snapped her finger in front of the brunette's face, making her look at her with her brows furrowed. "Wake up, darling, you're drooling." she smirked, while Bella rolled her eyes and stood up.

"So, before we go," Bella turned to her, making Lisa quirk a questioning eyebrow. "Can you _please_ be civil? I mean, don't go all wolf in the middle of the room?"

Lisa scoffed, putting one hand over her chest and looking offended. "Who do you think I am? A werewolf or something?" Bella just rolled her eyes, and Lisa realized she was being serious. "Don't worry, I'm not stupid enough to do something like that in a room full of my immortal enemies."

Bella nodded. "Good, because if you do, I won't be able to save your ass," Bella turned to leave, a smirk on her plump lips that made Lisa roll her eyes.

"As if _I_ would need saving," the blonde muttered under her breath, grabbing her jacket from the back of her couch and following the brunette.

There was a knock on the door, which meant Edward Cullen was in a hurry, and that made Lisa want to do everything _slowly_ , taking her time, just to mess with him. Bella, though, was dying to see her vampire again, so she opened the door with a dumb smile on her face.

"Hey," she greeted, seeing the bronze haired vampire standing in the doorway like he was in pain, but in love at the same time. It was weird.

He looked at Bella so intently that it made Lisa cringe. "Hey," he answered. The couple stood there staring at each other fixedly, as if they were the only people living in the world. Lisa thought they probably were thinking about each other naked, eating each other out.

 _Have they boned yet?_ She wondered while she watched the creepy interaction. Suddenly, Edward's golden eyes snapped at her and he didn't look pleased. She realized, then, why he was mad. _Stop reading my damn mind, you weirdo!_ She mentally screamed, not liking a bit that he was invading her mind like that.

He frowned even harder, which made Bella look from him to Lisa, not understanding the sudden shift of behavior from her boyfriend.

"Ok, what's going on?" she asked, crossing her arms in front of her chest like she was a mother scolding her two stubborn children.

"Lisa's thoughts are not very… _pleasant_." Edward answered through clenched teeth, his voice angered. Bella quirked an eyebrow to her friend in return, making Lisa roll her eyes.

"I was just wondering if you had sex, yet. That's all." She shrugged while Bella's blood rushed to her face, making her look like a ripe tomato.

"Lis!" the brunette scolded her, trying hard to control her fast beating heart and her embarrassment. Lisa chuckled, passing the awkward couple and going towards her car.

"I guess that's a no," she called after her, laughing when Bella cursed loudly at her.

She jumped into her car, turning it on and waiting for Edward and Bella to go to his Volvo. They stood in front of her opened door, staring at each other and whispering apologies.

 _Two virgins,_ Lisa shook her head, though deep inside her mind she was relieved that Bella didn't have any sex with the vampire – she wasn't sure what happened when vampires had sex with humans, but she imagined it wouldn't end up well.

Soon, Bella closed Lisa's door and went towards Edward's Volvo, sending her friend a dirty look before climbing into the car.

The Cullen's household wasn't that far from Lisa's place, it was about ten minutes by car, and soon they entered the road leading into the woods. It was all very dark outside since night had already fallen, but Lisa could see clearly with her enhanced sight. She was with her senses sharp, ready if a vampire were to leave the woods and attack her – she didn't know the Cullens very well, but she knew that Edward didn't like her and Alice…well, let's say whatever understanding they had reached was gone with the wind.

While driving there, her thoughts kept shifting around the weirdness of her situation. First, she had moved into a town thinking she would escape all the craziness that came with her. Then, she made friends with the one girl around the school that had a secret life, only to discover that she dated a vampire - she also found out that there was a pack of wolves in the Quileute reservation. As if all of that wasn't overwhelming enough, she had to _mate_ with a vampire.

 _Of course_ , she scoffed to herself. _Six billion people living in this damn planet, and I have to fall for the vampire that already is in a relationship._

If she was being totally honest with herself, Lisa had no idea of what she was going to do from that moment on; she had no clue what would happen and that made her cringe. For once, she wanted to have control over her own life. Why was it so difficult?

She thought about the blonde vampire named Jasper, and instantly her heart beat faster and the want for him grew.

 _I'm gonna see him again_ , she thought anxiously, butterflies dancing in her stomach like when she was a teenager in love with a random asshole. _How will he react?_ She wondered, feeling a wave of nervousness passing over her; she had no idea what was his reaction to her, if he felt the same as she did or if it was one sided. She didn't understand how this worked with herself, imagine with a person from a different species than hers. He could have felt _nothing_ , and the only one influenced was her – which probably meant she would be in a completely platonic relationship. The thought of not having him made her squeeze the steering wheel under her hands.

She _needed_ him.

How could she _get_ him, though?

She was shaken from her thoughts when Edward pulled the car in front of an enormous and beautiful house; Lisa stared at the place in awe, it looked like a house that was pictured in a magazine or something like that. She stepped out from her car, closing the door and walking towards Edward and Bella.

"That's a nice place." She commented, still amazed by the house. "I was kinda expecting something more similar to the Addams place, though."

Bella chuckled, nodding. "I thought the same when I came here for the first time."

"Let's get in," Edward interrupted impatiently, taking Bella's hand and climbing the stairs that led to the front door. Lisa followed after them, now looking eager to see inside the house.

As soon as Edward opened the door, a wave of the sweetest smell came straight towards Lisa's nose, making her scrunch it in disgust. If there was a scent that was really terrible was the one coming from the vampires; it was repulsive, really.

"God, that's an awful smell." She blurted out, her hand coming over her nose to try and stop the flow of air into her nostrils. Edward sent her a look over his shoulder, also scrunching his nose.

"You don't smell that good, either."

Bella looked from one to another not understanding. "What are you talking about?"

Before either one of them could answer, though, the _emo fairy_ appeared, bouncing on her feet when she came towards Bella. Lisa instantly scowled, her territorial side showing up. She could _smell_ in Alice, through her horrendous vampire scent, the delicious earthy scent that came from her mate. It was all over Alice, and it made Lisa want to snap the small vampire's neck right there.

Edward's eyes went straight to her, and he scowled; he probably had heard her line of thought, and it made her even angrier.

"Bella! It's good to see you again!" the brunette vampire hugged Bella tightly, before leaving her and looking over her shoulder towards Lisa, unaware of the desire for her head the wolf had at the moment. She nodded, her smile faltering a bit. "Lisa." She greeted politely.

In turn, Lisa nodded to her, too, resisting the urge to jump over her. "Alice."

The two women regarded each other from head to toe, dark and golden eyes analyzing the other as if they were in a battle field; the tension was palpable and the silence unbearable. Bella looked over Edward pleading him to do anything so the two would stop staring at each other as if they would jump over one another out of the blue. Edward sighed, nodding to his girlfriend.

"Carlisle? Esme? Rosalie? Emmett? Jasper?" he called out, snapping the women from their silent dispute.

Lisa shifted her gaze, letting it roam around the well-decorated living room; it was all very light, totally opposite from the darkness Lisa expected from a group of vampires, with white furniture, a white piano and ivory painted walls. There were several pieces of art spread all over, and all of them looked pretty expensive.

A second passed before a blonde man appeared right next to Bella. He was tall, looking about mid-twenties, really handsome. His blonde hair was combed back, so perfectly smooth that Lisa wanted to go there and mess everything up so he would look slightly more normal.

"Welcome back, Bella," he greeted her friend with a warm smile, before his look shifted towards Lisa. His warm smile continued in place when he extended his ice cold hand in her direction. "I'm Carlisle Cullen. You must be Lisa, I've heard a lot about you."

Lisa returned the smile, though hers was less warm. "Only _good_ things, I hope." She offered.

He nodded, though Lisa could see his lips twitching a little. "So, what can we do for you this evening? I imagine, due to the hour, that this is not a purely social visit?"

Bella nodded, glancing briefly to Lisa, who had no clue what she was doing there, before turning back to the man. "I'd like to talk to everyone at once, if that's okay. About something important."

Carlisle Cullen looked over at Edward, who seemed as if his stomach hurt from the pained look he had. "Of course," the blonde man answered. "Why don't we talk in the other room?"

It was weird to follow after a vampire doctor, together with another vampire who had an arm protectively wrapped around Bella, and a small one walking right beside her, sending her looks and frowning.

Lisa breathed deeply, regretting as soon as the sweet smell the vampires had entered her nostrils. Again she put her hand over her nose, not really caring if that was an impolite thing to do.

They all entered a bright dining room that was also very light, with white walls, a large and shiny chandelier that looked as if it cost more than Lisa's car with all the little crystals; right in the middle, under the chandelier, there was an oval, dark table surrounded by eight chairs.

"Please, have a sit," Carlisle motioned for the chairs, and while Bella went, Lisa only followed and stood right behind her, arms crossed over her chest, not entirely comfortable, especially with the looks coming from Edward and Alice.

There were four other vampires following Edward and Alice, making the room suddenly look small. Lisa regarded each of them carefully, making a silent analysis of them all. There was a small vampire beside Edward with caramel brown hair that was tied in a low ponytail; she looked like she was on her late twenties, very beautiful with a warm smile on her pale, sparkly face; right behind her there was a couple holding hands. The male was huge, both in height as in weight, he was almost Jacob's size, with broad, muscled shoulders and dark hair. Of course Lisa stiffened a little with his figure since he was probably the strongest in the coven, but his wide grin made her relax a little.

 _Strong, but not too bright_ , she thought to herself, receiving a sharp look from Edward, which she didn't acknowledge.

Right next to him was a blonde female; she was _stunningly_ beautiful with her long, wavy locks falling on her back, and Lisa realized that she was almost as tall as herself. However, as opposite to the male holding her hand, she did not have a pleasant smile on her face, quite the contrary – she was frowning, making her face look tense.

 _That must be Rosalie_ , Lisa understood, since from all of them she looked the least happy with Bella and, by extension, the wolf next to her.

Her dark eyes moved, then, to the figure standing a little far from the rest of his family. Her heart faltered a bit when she saw him, his wavy hair framing his handsome face, his lean, tall body that instantly made her _desire_ him hugged with a tight button down shirt. She took him all in, not missing a single detail – she didn't even realize that he, as opposite from the others, didn't look as sparkly or vampire like to her eyes. She did notice, though, the hundreds of tiny scars that started on his neck, marking his flesh in a way that no vampire should have marked. It made her heart clench.

 _He's a warrior_ , she thought, her heart beating widely in her chest, making all the vampires in the room stare at her – some with wonder, others with despite. She didn't care a bit, though. All her attention was turned to him and _him_ alone. She breathed him in, feeling his overwhelming scent entering her senses, soothing her.

She wanted to walk in his direction, take his hand, _kiss_ him… rip his clothes to shreds while they made _love_ in the middle of the room. She didn't care.

Edward, though, did, since he was listening to all the movement going through her head; he didn't like it a bit.

" _Stop,_ " he snarled through gritted teeth, not looking at anyone in particular. All eyes, though, went to him, not understanding the sudden outburst.

Lisa shifted uncomfortably, but her eyes never left Jasper's figure. He never looked at her, though; his eyes remained on the floor, and he didn't lift them.

Carlisle, realizing the tension between some people in the room, decided to break the silence. "The floor is yours, Bella."

The brunette smiled at him, before turning to look at everyone. "Well, I'm assuming Alice already told you what happened in Volterra," she said, and some of the vampires nodded.

"Everything," Alice assured.

"Good. So you all know what I want," Lisa frowned, shifting her look back to the brunette and quirking an eyebrow.

"I don't." she said, seeing Bella swallowing tickly, and Edward sighing. "Bells?"

The brunette sent her friend a brief look before turning back to look at the table. "I have a problem," she started, biting her lip nervously. "Alice promised the Volturi that I would become one of you. They're going to send someone to check, and I'm sure that's a bad thing - something to avoid."

Lisa's eyes grew in size before she snapped. "She _promised_ what?" her dark eyes went to Alice's figure, frowning. The small vampire stood her ground, returning the glare with equal force.

"Lis," Bella warned her. "It's not as if we had a choice. I told you they wanted to kill me,"

"And that's the solution you came up with?" she interrupted, shaking her head. "Becoming one of _them_?"

A couple of snarls was heard, but Lisa couldn't care less. She stared at Bella with disbelief, not really understanding how _that_ was okay. "Lisa!" Bella stood up, turning to look at her friend with a frown. "We didn't have _any_ other option! Now can you let me finish, please?"

The blonde wolf huffed, closing her hands into fists and shifting her look. Bella took her silence as an opportunity for her to continue her tale, so she did. "I know how much I'm asking for," she said, looking at each of the vampires in the room. "The only thing that I can think of for it to be fair is to just vote."

"You don't know what you're talking about," Edward interrupted, shaking his head. For the first time, Lisa agreed with him completely.

"Shut up," Bella blurted, sending him a warning look. Then, she looked back at the others. "Alice?"

Lisa wanted to kill the vampire when she came to Bella smiling, as if she turning into a vampire was the best thing in the world. "I already consider you my sister," she told the brunette, hugging her tightly. "Yes."

Lisa glared daggers at the small vampire. "Thank you," Bella answered, smiling.

"I vote 'yes'," they all turned to look at Jasper, since up to that point he hadn't said – or done – anything other than look at the floor with an unreadable expression. He looked uncomfortable as hell, Lisa noticed, all stiff when he turned to look at Bella. "It would be nice to not want to kill you all the time."

 _Oh, geez_. Lisa thought, remembering the fact that he had tried to attack Bella on her birthday. She felt sorry for him, her heart clenching when she realized he probably suffered with Bella's blood.

Her heart beat faster when he suddenly looked over at her, it was brief, but it made her heart leap anyway. She continued looking at him, seeing him with his hands behind his back, once again looking down to the floor.

"Thanks," Bella finally spoke, uncertain if that was even the right thing to say.

Next, it was the blonde vampire's turn to say something. "I'm sorry," she blurted, looking down to her feet. "I'm really sorry for the both of you for how I've acted, and I'm really grateful that you were brave enough to go and save my brother," she looked back to Bella, shaking her head. "But this isn't a life I'd have chosen for myself. And I wish there'd been someone to vote 'no' for me. So, no."

All eyes shifted to anywhere but at Rosalie, though Lisa decided she wanted to look at the beautiful vampire. It surprised her the way she was the one Bella thought didn't like her, but she was the only one – besides Edward and herself – who didn't think that was a good idea. It made Lisa feel a bit of respect towards her.

"I vote 'hell, yeah'" the tall vampire, Ermit, came over to Bella, hugging her as if she weighted nothing. "And we can pick a fight with these Volturi some other way."

After him, the other small, beautiful vampire smiled at Bella, saying her yes. "I already consider you part of the family.

The last one of the vampires to come was the patriarch - Carlisle. He silently came over Bella, sending a brief look over to Edward, who looked like he was being tortured by an invisible force.

"Why?" the teenage vampire asked, looking back at Carlisle.

"You've chosen not to live without her," Carlisle explained, a small, sad smile on his handsome face. "Which leaves me no choice. I won't lose my son." Then, he turned back to Bella, taking her hand in his. "Yes."

It took a second before the eyes turned to Lisa, and the sudden attention bothered her; it reminded her of her first week in Forks, the way people stared at her as if she was an alien coming right from the space. She sighed, feeling the heavy burden of that decision not only on her, but on Bella as well.

Finally, she decided to speak, looking at her friend. "Can we talk privately?"

Bella frowned. "You can say whatever you want here, Lis," she offered a small smile to the blonde, knowing that it wouldn't matter if they went to another room – the vampires would listen to them.

Lisa sighed, passing a hand over her face. "You really like putting yourself in danger, don't you?"

"Lis-" Bella started, but Lisa interrupted her before she could say anything.

"Listen, I know that it doesn't matter what I tell you, you won't change you _damn_ mind," she huffed when Bella rolled her eyes. "However, I'm telling you what a bad idea that is anyway. You don't know what is like to be a… _freak_ of the universe, and you have the opportunity of having a normal life- "

"I don't want a-" Bella interrupted again, and Lisa shot her a sharp look.

"Lemme finish, damn it." The brunette closed her mouth, though a pout remained on her lips. "I know you love _him_ ," she sent Edward a pointed look. "Though I have yet to discover why," a chuckle came from someone, followed by a slap, but Lisa didn't look to see who it was. "Anyway, I agree with her," she pointed a finger towards Rosalie. "If I had a change of being slightly normal, I'd take it. And you have it, Bells. So don't take it _that_ lightly."

Bella sighed, looking to Lisa and then Rosalie. "I know where you're coming from… but it's not as if I have a choice anymore, you know."

"That's not true." Edward pointed out. "There was more than one reason why I didn't want to shake Aro's hand there at the end. There's something they didn't think of, and I didn't want to cine them in."

All eyes looked interested, Lisa's included, but Bella was already tired of Edward's antics to stop her from becoming what she really wanted. "Edward-" she tried, but he interrupted her.

"The Volturi are overconfident, and with good reason. When they decide to find someone, it's not really a problem. There's one of them, Demetri, and his ability is to find people. He's a tracker, a tracker a thousand times better than James ever was. He can… track anyone by searching something in their minds."

"You think he won't be able to find me," Bella said flatly, not liking the least the way the discussion was turning into.

"I'm sure of it. He relies totally on that other sense. When it doesn't work with you, they'll all be blind." Edward answered with confidence.

"How do you know it won't work in her?" Lisa asked, quirking one eyebrow.

"It seems that Bella's mind is… different from the rest of the humans," he explained. "Both Aro and I can't read it, and Jane's power didn't work on her either."

"What's your plan, then?" Bella wondered, sounding bored.

"Alice will be able to tell when they're planning a visit, and I'll hide you. They'll be helpless," he answered with a victorious smile. "It will be like looking for a piece of straw in a haystack!"

"They can find you, though," Bella pointed out, still not convinced by that plan.

"I can take care of myself," he answered smugly, which earned him a laugh from Emmett.

"Excellent plan, bro." the huge vampire said with enthusiasm, while bumping fists with Edward.

"Nice," Lisa looked over when Jasper spoke up, a smirk on his face that made her legs turn into jelly. It had been the first time she had seen a ghost of a smile on his face, and she really liked to see it. Though the male vampires looked pretty sure about the plan, the females strongly disagreed.

"No," Rosalie hissed.

"Idiots," Alice muttered.

Esme glared at them, and Bella shook her head.

"A confrontation won't be needed if you simply turn me."

Edward's smile faltered, and he turned back to his gloomy self. "Bella…"

"It's already decided!" she snapped, tired of all the ways her boyfriend was trying to prevent something inevitable. "I want _this._ "

The room went silent for a few minutes, each of the occupants busy with their own thoughts. Lisa still didn't like the idea of her friend turning into a vampire, first because she would have to die in order to do so and second because her life would change completely when that happened.

After minutes of uncomfortable silence, Carlisle spoke up, interrupting the tension yet again. "I guess it's decided, then." He said, smiling. "Bella, you'll be very welcome to our family."

The brunette smiled gratefully, the tension finally easing from her shoulders. "Thanks, Carlisle."

"Now that this is settled," he sent Edward a brief look, before passing over the other people from his family and Lisa. "Many things happened when we were _away_ …so, Lisa, we'd like to thank you for taking care of Bella. Alice and Edward told us everything you have done to help her, and for that we're very grateful."

Lisa was so surprised by the sudden thanks that she stood there staring at the blonde vampire dumbfounded.

"Lis?" Bella called her, snapping her out of her surprise. She slightly shook her head, and then she nodded.

"Actually, it wasn't just me. Jacob and the other wolves also helped," she started, not missing the way Edward flinched by that small piece of information. "Anyway, Bella told me you wanted to hear about the red headed vampire… Victoria?"

"Yes," Edward was the one to answer, eager to know. Since Lisa hadn't thought about the matter when they've been close to each other, he hadn't been able to hear anything from her thoughts, and Bella was pretty much clueless except for the fact she knew they went after her a couple of times.

Lisa nodded, getting into business mode, her voice serious. "We've been tracking her for some weeks now,"

"We?" the Ermit guy asked, quirking one eyebrow.

"Me and the pack from La Push." Lisa answered as if it was obvious. He looked at her with his eyebrows raised.

"Are you part of their pack?" he asked curiously, and she shook her head.

"No," she said, not willing to delve into her relationship with the other wolves, going back to her telling of the story. "She usually comes close to places Bella frequents, though never _too_ close. Her house, the school, even the rez sometimes. We covered all the places she could pass through, though she always finds a way to escape."

"Maybe you're not fast enough," Ermit interrupted once again, grinning when Lisa scoffed.

"I can show you _how_ fast we can be, if you want." she smirked, raising her eyebrows in challenge. She didn't know that Emmett absolutely loved and craved for challenges, so of course he nodded eagerly.

" _Tsc_ , can't you focus here?" Edward looked over them with a frown. "What do you mean by always finds a way to escape?"

"I'm not sure," she answered thoughtfully, remembering all the times they had come close to get her, only for her to find a path, or a cliff to run away.

"I see," Edward nodded, reading her thoughts. "Maybe it's her ability?" he wondered, pinching the bridge of his nose in deep thought.

"What?" Carlisle asked, looking from his son to Lisa.

"The ability to find a way to escape," Edward answered his father. "Does it seem reasonable?"

"There are vampires with all kinds of abilities," the one to answer him was Jasper, looking interested in the conversation. "So it is a strong possibility, yes."

Lisa took the opportunity to talk to him for the first time, even if it was in a room full of people. "That would make sense," she said, smiling a little when he looked over at her. "She's also very fast. _I_ am pretty fast, and yet she was able to run from me."

She remembered when she almost got her, only for her to throw her into a tree; it had happened in the same day Harry Clearwater had a heart attack, and Bella jumped from the cliff. It was that moment that led them all to the present, when she was in a room full of vampires discussing the possible power of one of them.

Edward looked over at her, his brow furrowing. "You were going in pairs?" Edward asked.

Lisa glared at him, not liking one bit that he kept entering her mind. "Yes," she answered, biting the curse she wanted to say to him. "To cover more ground."

"Maybe we could do the same." He looked over his family expectantly, and all of them had different reactions.

Esme and Carlisle looked at each other with worry, Alice looked over at Jasper, who only nodded fiercely; Emmett also nodded, and Rosalie frowned so much that her face was distorted. Bella simply stood there, not knowing what exactly she could say.

Lisa cleared her throat, attracting attention back to her. "She kinda…disappeared. Right after Bella went away."

"She'll certainly come back," Jasper said, looking over to Edward. "She probably wants revenge over her dead _mate_ ; she'll never stop."

"Yes," the bronze haired vampire agreed. "Alice, you can see if she comes back, right?"

"Of course," the small vampire answered, her melodic voice making Lisa cringe a little.

"So we'll just have to wait." Carlisle supplied, and everyone nodded in agreement.

"Sam's wolf pack is also keeping a look out for her." Lisa added, and the blonde man smiled a little.

"Can you thank them for us?" he asked her, looking so honest with his intentions that she could only nod. He smiled, almost looking relieved. "Good, again, thank you so much for your help, Lisa."

She shrugged as if it was nothing, and decided to offer the man a smile. He wasn't bad, after all. "Bella's my friend, too. A crazy one," she sent Bella a pointed look that earned her a roll of eyes. "But a friend, anyway."

"Ok. Now it's all settled, I've got to take you home, Bella. Charlie will probably murder me if I don't." Edward told his girlfriend, grabbing her hand and leaving a small kiss on the warm surface.

"I'd like to see that," Lisa muttered sarcastically, earning her a glare from the bronze haired vampire and a couple of smiles from some of the other Cullens.

She followed the couple when they started to leave the house, looking over her shoulder to the newest object of her love and admiration; what was her surprise when she noticed him looking back at her, too, though he wasn't the only one. Alice Cullen was right by his side, gazing at her with a sad, almost desperate look on her face.

Lisa turned around, not sure of what to feel.

"Lis, I'll see you tomorrow, right?" Bella asked as soon as they got to their cars, and the blonde nodded.

"You going with him?" Bella nodded, and Lisa, though a little disappointed because they were used to go together to school, wasn't surprised. "Okay… see you then."

"See you,"

She entered her car, turning the engine on and bypassing Edward's Volvo; she stopped right beside the car, sending the couple inside it a smirk. "Wear protection. We don't need any vampire babies running around Forks," Bella flushed all over, while Edward only glared at her.

From inside the house, a loud, strong laugh could be heard.


End file.
